Employers need to be fully aware of their responsibilities in relation to regulation.
Under the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, and highlighted in DE circular 2015/12 issued 22 May 2015, all employers need to understand that:
- Article 35(3) provides that an employing authority shall not employ a person as a teacher unless they are registered with GTCNI;
- Article 36(2) and the definition of ‘qualified teacher’ in regulation 2 of the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (Registration of Teachers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (as amended) which provide that a teacher is ‘qualified if he or she has qualifications approved by GTCNI’; and
- Article 40(4) which places a duty on employing authorities to provide information to enable GTCNI to perform its statutory functions, including the function relating to the removal of teachers from the Register
The employer (or employing authority), e.g. the school, is required to deal with any allegation of misconduct using the agreed disciplinary process as set out in the ‘Disciplinary Procedure for Teachers including Principals and Vice–Principals in Grant–Aided Schools with fully delegated Budgets’ (TNC 2016/2). This includes supply teachers.
The employer also has a duty to notify GTCNI about any teacher who is dismissed, or may have been had they not resigned, on the grounds of misconduct and to provide us with the information we need to carry out an investigation or any subsequent conduct hearing. This includes allegations involving substitute teachers and teachers on short term contracts.