Friday, September 05, 2008

GRRRR!!!!!


I am feeling in a generally disgruntled mood today. The incessant rain does not help as my mood is very much affected by the kind of weather we have. But I think the General Teaching Council (GTC) is the major cause of my being cheesed off. The GTC didn't even exist until a few years ago. It is supposed to be a professional body/register for teachers, something along the lines of the British Medical Association. In reality it is just another bureaucratic thorn in the side of teachers. I could go on about how, if you want to create a professional body you might actually pay teachers something in line with other 'professionals' instead of the equivalent of an average business graduate trainee starting salary. But that is not today's particular gripe. I was awarded 'Qualified Teacher Status' at the start of July. But to prove it, I need, not my graduation certificate as you might think, but another certificate from the GTC. These are sent out in August. Upon receipt of this, I was required to cough up £33 for membership of this Mickey Mouse body. Here's where I show myself to be a great, humungous plonker - I put the wrong bank sort code on the Direct Debit form, without which, they will not register me. D'oh! I received the letter giving me the good news this morning. It has taken them a fortnight to discover this. Why is the whole process so unwieldy? There should be enough slack in the system to even accommodate dopes like me. Now it will be another 2 weeks before I can even hope to have any work. Why does it take so long? Have they done no processing of my application at all in the past fortnight? Surely it should be a fast track process now? I am not allowed to work without this. Perhaps I should apply for any old job. I'm just being picky expecting to get a job in teaching after spending over £3000 of my own cash to train. A bit selfish of me really...


I do shudder at the chronic lack of strategic organisation in cowboy outfits like the GTC. Come the revolution, they will be the first against the wall...

3 comments:

AnneDroid said...

Hope it all gets sorted out soon and a wonderful job shows up for you!

Holy Famoley said...

I'm sure it will, Anne. Just a few more obstacles to negotiate.

Anonymous said...

If it makes you fell any better, the GTC are trying to charge me fees for when I didn't teach!!