Unions reject plan for headteachers

A government plan to allow state school heads to be appointed without a teaching qualification was described by unions yesterday as a complete non-starter.

The idea was put forward by David Miliband, the minister for School Standards, in talks with union leaders. Under the plan, revealed in yesterday's Independent, governing bodies would be able to appoint headteachers with, for example, a background in business.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "If the major purpose of being head of a school is to improve the quality of teaching and learning, which it must be, how is the head going to do it if they haven't got teaching experience?" He called the idea a "complete non-starter".

He suggested qualifications other than in teaching would be better suited to the job of a deputy head or bursar.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, "totally opposed" the idea, believing it would conflict with existing plans to insist heads had a "headship" qualification. "How can you have a qualification in headship if you haven't got a teaching qualification?" he said.

John Beattie, chairman of the General Teaching Council, said the move would "chip away" at professionalism.

The Department for Education and Skills stressed that there would be no compulsion for schools to take this route. "We are not going to dictate to schools," a spokeswoman said.