Teachers punished for misconduct and incompetence

The behaviour of teachers in Australia is carefully monitored and those found to be bad are dealt with. The different states manage schools in each state with its own administrative setup. All teachers have to get registered with the relevant Teacher Registration Board. 

According to the Western Australia (WA) Teacher Registration Board’s annual report, more than 30 teachers were reported for serious misconduct or incompetence last year. Inquiries are held and those guilty are sent out.

The report mentions that four secondary school teachers and three primary school teachers had their working with children clearance revoked during the year. Even though the reasons for the “negative notices” were not made public, it is presumed that these include child sex offence convictions.

Two teachers had their registration revoked for possessing child pornography and another for sexual penetration of a child 16 years of age or over. 

A teacher who faced a charge of an aggravated common assault had the charge dropped and he has returned to work. However, the matter is being investigated by the school before a report is forwarded to the Teacher Registration Board.

Expressing his concern over cases of misconduct and incompetence, the WA Education Minister was confident that most cases of serious wrongdoings were identified. 

The WA Sunday Times reported that 18 incidents of “serious misconduct” have been reported by WA schools. These include unreasonable and inappropriate physical contact, inappropriate conversations and behaviour towards students. 

Twelve incidents of “serious incompetence” involved accusations of failing to provide a safe environment for students, abandoning their position, giving a substandard performance or being deemed not suitable to continue as a teacher.

The cases spread across the state’s government and private schools with a workforce of 50,000 teachers.

A teacher union official reacted saying that while one case was too many, most teachers did the right thing. According to him, people feel safer about reporting certain things these days unlike the bad old days when it would be swept under the rung. 

An official of the WA Council of State School Organisation said that education stakeholders mostly worked well together to ensure child safety but must not be complacent. 

In Western Australia, the Teacher Registration Act 2012 gives paramount consideration to the best interests of school children in the state. Teachers must be appropriately qualified and fit and proper to be a registered teacher.