A NEW group is calling for all college staff involved in school liaison to be selected from academic ranks and to be registered with the General Teaching Council.
The Scottish Colleges Association of School Liaison Officers is also soliciting support from the GTC, the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority in its efforts to restrict the appointment of liaison officers to college academic departments as opposed to marketing personnel.
Alex Moyes, a Cambuslang College lecturer who is the association’s secretary, said the move is an attempt to bring a more professional approach to school-college liaison. “What we are proposing is a natural development from the present practice. Most liaison officers are already qualified teachers, some of whom are registered with the GTC. We do not envisage a major problem in persuading the remainder to join.”
Matthew Maciver, the GTC’s depute registrar, welcomed the group’s efforts. “The council is very keen to be involved in developing positive partnerships between schools and FE colleges. The introduction of Higher Still makes it particularly important to support such a constructive initiative.”
The council has, however, failed in its considerable efforts to woo FE staff. Figures for May showed there were only 905 lecturers registered with the GTC, a decrease from 1,014 a year previously and only 6 per cent of Scotland’s 14,000 FE lecturers.
