Headteacher shortage is crisis of government's own making - Teather

5.52.08pm UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 15th Jan 2007

Commenting as Tony Blair and Alan Johnson announced the expansion of the Future Leaders scheme to find headteachers for challenging inner-city schools, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, Sarah Teather MP said:

"The current headteacher shortage is a looming crisis which threatens our whole education system. And it is a problem entirely of this government's making.

"Headteachers work over 60 hour weeks and are bombarded with endless government memos and directives. They must constantly defend the work of their staff and pupils against the barrage of criticism from the media and politicians; it's no surprise that no-one wants to take on the job.

"A good headteacher sets the ethos of the school, inspires pupils and boosts staff morale - there is quite simply no such thing as a good school without a good head.

"The Government needs to act immediately, not just set up schemes for inner city schools, but alleviate the pressure they put on heads all over the country and make the job attractive again."

Applicability: this item refers to England and Wales. Due to devolution, detailed policy may be different in other areas of the UK.