NI Education: Schools warned over not vetting substitute teachers

The Education Authority says 45 schools employed substitute teachers whose checks were not complete.

Over 40 schools have been warned about employing teachers who have not fully completed criminal records checks.

All school staff, including teachers, have to complete pre-employment vetting before they can work with children.

Teachers are required to have an "enhanced" check, which discloses things like previous convictions.

But 45 schools have been warned that they have employed substitute teachers whose pre-employment checks were not complete.

The names of the schools have not been revealed.

'Paramount importance'

The warning came in a joint letter to a number of schools from the Education Authority (EA) and Department of Education (DE).

The letter said the schools had employed a substitute teacher "outside of the well-established requirements for pre-employment checks, including vetting, being completed before the teacher took up employment".

It said that all school employees "must have a vetting check in place prior to employment".

"Compliance with such protocols is of paramount importance to support effective safeguarding in our schools."

A subsequent email from an EA official, seen by BBC News NI, said the letters had been sent to 45 schools.

Substitute teachers in Northern Ireland must be registered with the Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register (NISTR).

NISTR is the online system schools use to book and process pay for substitute teachers, and it also records that criminal records checks for teachers have been completed.

The Department for Education said NISTR is the "only approved mechanism for schools to engage a supply teacher ensuring all necessary safeguarding checks have been completed before a teacher can enter a NI classroom".

"More than two thirds of the teachers involved are now fully compliant and 'Live' on the NISTR register and schools have been asked to cease engagement of teachers who have not obtained this status," a spokeswoman said.

But some schools and substitute teachers have had problems with NISTR since it was overhauled in summer 2022.

Some teachers were not paid in September and October as a result, leading the department to introduce interim emergency payments for those affected.

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In a statement, a spokesperson for the EA said that a "key part of the registration process for NISTR is the completion of pre-employment checks".

"A teacher is not live on the register until these checks are complete and as such, cannot be booked by a school through NISTR," they continued.

"A letter was issued to a small number of schools this week in cases where it became apparent that a teacher who was not live on NISTR had been working in a school and booked outside of the advised process, contravening guidance from the Department of Education.

"Safeguarding our children and young people is of primary importance to EA and we will continue to work closely with schools to ensure that all proper processes are followed in the recruitment of supply teachers."

Justin McCamphill, from NASUWT, said the EA and DE letter highlighted "serious issues."

The NASUWT union's official for Northern Ireland, Justin McCamphill, said the EA and DE letter highlighted "serious issues".

"A number of schools are employing teachers who have not been vetted, but some teachers are waiting far too long for pre-employment checks to be completed," he said.

"It is important to say that none of this is the fault of any substitute teacher."