Leading article: A harsh lesson

The revelation that more than a third of state school teachers have to teach subjects in which they themselves are untrained beyond A-level is a serious indictment of our secondary education system.

The issue is not so much one of competence, but inspiration. Teachers will always struggle to enthuse pupils with a love of a subject if they lack a wider knowledge of it themselves. And if teachers have been railroaded into taking classes by an overstretched school management, the passion will always be lacking. Making matters worse is the fact that the number of under-qualified teachers taking classes rises in proportion to the number of pupils in a school receiving free school meals. This suggests a two-tier education service in all but name.

The problem is that, despite the "golden handshakes" being offered to shortage subject teachers, it is still often difficult to entice those with relevant degrees into the classroom. It is also hard, even with the "Teach First" training scheme, which encourages new teachers to do a year in the inner cities, to attract well qualified staff into the most deprived schools.

The way forward is to allow schools serving poor areas, or those with a particular shortage, to pay teachers whatever it takes to attract the staff with the qualifications they need. The teaching unions are appalled whenever the idea of differential pay is proposed, but that does not make it a bad one. The education system exists, first and foremost, for the benefit of pupils. We cannot sit back while children are short-changed with under-qualified teachers.

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