Hundreds of unsuitable teachers, including paedophiles, are being allowed into schools so long as they avoid certain types of pupils, it is reported today. Headteachers are having to accept supply staff into classrooms without knowing if they are on the reject list or have criminal records, according to The Times. There are about 15,000 on the list compiled at the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). But Gerard Connolly, who held the names of all problem teachers on a computer in his office from 1996 to 2004, said that many had caveats. Most forbade teachers from working with one gender of pupil, or children above or below a particular age. Some had geographical restrictions placed upon them. A few were banned from individual schools. “You used to see them every other page or so with a restriction on,” Connolly told The Times. He estimated that between 700 and 1,000 names on the list had permission to teach particular categories of pupil. “I have no way of knowing how many were working in schools but they were certainly free to do so,” he said. An education department spokesman said: “The list is held by the department and the criminal records bureau. We certainly don’t recognise that figure.” Results of a review into teacher recruitment ordered by education secretary Ruth Kelly are due this week.
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