UK schools are heading for a leadership crisis, with just 4% of teachers aspiring to become headteachers in the next five years and one-third of heads planning to retire by 2011, research has revealed.
The General Teaching Council (GTC) in England survey of 10,000 qualified teachers warned that school will struggle to fill 40% of headteacher vacancies in the next few years.
High levels of stress, excessive admin and poor behaviour of children were cited as the primary reasons for the apathy.
The GTC also said that many women were deterred from becoming headteachers.
Carol Adams, chief executive of the GTC, said: “Current efforts to address the issue must be intensified. This includes developing leadership skills and talents from early on in teachers’ careers and emphasising the collegial aspects of leadership, rather than the ‘superman’ image of the male head who takes everything on his shoulders.”
Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers said the government should look at ways in which it can make school leadership more attractive to teachers.
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