UK
schools will not be able to target poor developing countries to poach teachers
and fill recruitment gaps, under new guidelines agreed by the Government
yesterday.
Education
ministers of 23 Commonwealth states signed up to a package of measures designed
to tackle the plundering of teaching expertise by the UK
and other states.
The
poaching has put at risk flagging international efforts to achieve universal
primary education within a decade.
The
new protocol will not ban recruitment from developing countries entirely, but
is intended to end the organised targeting of poorer countries by wealthier
ones seeking teaching staff.
It
will compel teacher recruitment agencies to comply with a code of good practice
if they want to retain a government quality mark.
According
to figures from the Department for Education and Skills, 5,564 work permits
were issued in 2003 to citizens from Commonwealth countries coming to work as
teachers in the UK.
