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1966 CEART Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers

Cover and Introduction

1. Definitions
2. Scope
3. Guiding principles
4. Educational objectives and policies
5. Preparation for the profession
6. Further education for teachers
7. Employment and career
8. The rights and responsibilities of teachers
9. Conditions for effective teaching and learning
10. Teachers' salaries
11. Social security
12. The teacher shortage
13. Final provision

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7. Employment and career

   Entry into the teaching profession

   38. In collaboration with teachers' organizations, policy governing recruitment into employment should be clearly defined at the appropriate level and rules should be established laying down the teachers' obligations and rights.
   39. A probationary period on entry to teaching should be recognized both by teachers and by employers as the opportunity for the encouragement and helpful initiation of the entrant and for the establishment and maintenance of proper professional standards as well as the teacher's own development of his practical teaching proficiency. The normal duration of probation should be known in advance and the conditions for its satisfactory completion should be strictly related to professional competence. If the teacher is failing to complete his probation satisfactorily, he should be informed of the reasons and should have the right to make representations.

   Advancement and promotion

   40. Teachers should be able, subject to their having the necessary qualifications, to move from one type or level of school to another within the education service.
   41. The organization and structure of an education service, including that of individual schools, should provide adequate opportunities for and recognition of additional responsibilities to be exercised by individual teachers, on condition that those responsibilities are not detrimental to the quality or regularity of their teaching work.
   42. Consideration should he given to advantages of schools sufficiently large for pupils to have the benefits and staff the opportunities to be derived from a range of responsibilities being carried by different teachers.
   43. Posts of responsibility in education, such as that of inspector, educational administrator, director of education or other posts of special responsibility, should be given as far as possible to experienced teachers.
   44. Promotion should be based on an objective assessment of the teacher's qualifications for the new post, by reference to strictly professional criteria laid down in consultation with teachers' organizations.

   Security of tenure

   45. Stability of employment and security of tenure in the profession are essential in the interests of education as well as in that of the teacher and should be safeguarded even when changes in the organization of or within a school system are made.
   46. Teachers should be adequately protected against arbitrary action affecting their professional standing or career.

   Disciplinary procedures related to breaches of professional conduct

   47. Disciplinary measures applicable to teachers guilty of breaches of professional conduct should be clearly defined. The proceedings and any resulting action should only be made public if the teacher so requests, except where prohibition from teaching is involved or the protection or well-being of the pupils so requires.
   48. The authorities or bodies competent to propose or apply sanctions and penalties should be clearly designated.
   49. Teachers' organizations should be consulted when the machinery to deal with disciplinary matters is established.
   50. Every teacher should enjoy equitable safeguards at each stage of any disciplinary procedure, and in particular:
       1. the right to be informed in writing of the allegations and the grounds for them;
       2. the right to full access to the evidence in the case;
       3. the right to defend himself and to be defended by a representative of his choice, adequate time being given to the teacher for the preparation of his defence;
       4. the right to be informed in writing of the decisions reached and the reasons for them;
       5. the right to appeal to clearly designated competent authorities or bodies.
   51. Authorities should recognize that effectiveness of disciplinary safeguards as well as discipline itself would be greatly enhanced if the teachers were judged with the participation of their peers.
   52. The provisions of the foregoing paragraphs 47-51 do not in any way affect the procedures normally applicable under national laws or regulations to acts punishable under criminal laws.

   Medical examinations

   53. Teachers should be required to undergo periodical medical examinations, which should be provided free.

   Women teachers with family responsibilities

   54. Marriage should not be considered a bar to the appointment or to the continued employment of women teachers, nor should it affect remuneration or other conditions of work.
   55. Employers should be prohibited from terminating contracts of service for reasons of pregnancy and maternity leave.
   56. Arrangements such as crèches or nurseries should be considered where desirable to take care of the children of teachers with family responsibilities.
   57. Measures should be taken to permit women teachers with family responsibilities to obtain teaching posts in the locality of their homes and to enable married couples, both of whom are teachers, to teach in the same general neighbourhood or in one and the same school.
   58. In appropriate circumstances women teachers with family responsibilities who have left the profession before retirement age should be encouraged to return to teaching.

   Part-time service

   59. Authorities and schools should recognize the value of part-time service given, in case of need, by qualified teachers who for some reason cannot give full-time service.
   60. Teachers employed regularly on a part-time basis should:
       1. receive proportionately the same remuneration and enjoy the same basic conditions of employment as teachers employed on a full-time basis;
       2. be granted rights corresponding to those of teachers employed on a full-time basis as regards holidays with pay, sick leave
       3. and maternity leave, subject to the same eligibility requirements; and
       4. be entitled to adequate and appropriate social security protection, including coverage under employers' pension schemes.
8. The rights and responsibilities of teachers

   Professional freedom

   61. The teaching profession should enjoy academic freedom in the discharge of professional duties. Since teachers are particularly qualified to judge the teaching aids and methods most suitable for their pupils, they should be given the essential role in the choice and the adaptation of teaching material, the selection of textbooks and the application of teaching methods, within the framework of approved programmes, and with the assistance of the educational authorities.
   62. Teachers and their organizations should participate in the development of new courses, textbooks and teaching aids.
   63. Any systems of inspection or supervision should be designed to encourage and help teachers in the performance of their professional tasks and should be such as not to diminish the freedom, initiative and responsibility of teachers.
   64. text
       1. Where any kind of direct assessment of the teacher's work is required, such assessment should be objective and should be made known to the teacher.
       2. Teachers should have a right to appeal against assessments which they deem to be unjustified.
   65. Teachers should be free to make use of such evaluation techniques as they may deem useful for the appraisal of pupils' progress, but should ensure that no unfairness to individual pupils results.
   66. The authorities should give due weight to the recommendations of teachers regarding the suitability of individual pupils for courses and further education of different kinds.
   67. Every possible effort should be made to promote close co-operation between teachers and parents in the interests of pupils, but teachers should be protected against unfair or unwarranted interference by parents in matters which are essentially the teacher's professional responsibility.
   68. text
       1. Parents having a complaint against a school or a teacher should be given the opportunity of discussing it in the first instance with the school principal and the teacher concerned. Any complaint subsequently addressed to higher authority should be put in writing and a copy should be supplied to the teacher.
       2. Investigations of complaints should be so conducted that the teachers are given a fair opportunity to defend themselves and that no publicity is given to the proceedings.
   69. While teachers should exercise the utmost care to avoid accidents to pupils, employers of teachers should safeguard them against the risk of having damages assessed against them in the event of injury to pupils occurring at school or in school activities away from the school premises or grounds.

   Responsibilities of teachers

   70. Recognizing that the status of their profession depends to a considerable extent upon teachers themselves, all teachers should seek to achieve the highest possible standards in all their professional work.
   71. Professional standards relating to teacher performance should be defined and maintained with the participation of the teachers' organizations.
   72. Teachers and teachers' organizations should seek to co-operate fully with authorities in the interests of the pupils, of the education service and of society generally.
   73. Codes of ethics or of conduct should be established by the teachers' organizations, since such codes greatly contribute to ensuring the prestige of the profession and the exercise of professional duties in accordance with agreed principles.
   74. Teachers should be prepared to take their part in extra-curricular activities for the benefit of pupils and adults.

   Relations between teachers and the education service as a whole

   75. In order that teachers may discharge their responsibilities, authorities should establish and regularly use recognized means of consultation with teachers' organizations on such matters as educational policy, school organization, and new developments in the education service.
   76. Authorities and teachers should recognize the importance of the participation of teachers, through their organizations and in other ways, in steps designed to improve the quality of the education service, in educational research, and in the development and dissemination of new improved methods.
   77. Authorities should facilitate the establishment and the work of panels designed, within a school or within a broader framework, to promote the co-operation of teachers of the same subject and should take due account of the opinions and suggestions of such panels.
   78. Administrative and other staff who are responsible for aspects of the education service should seek to establish good reldtions with teachers and this approach should be equally reciprocated.

   Rights of teachers

   79. The participation of teachers in social and public life should be encouraged in the interests of the teacher's personal development, of the education service and of society as a whole.
   80. Teachers should be free to exercise all civic rights generally enjoyed by citizens and should be eligible for public office.
   81. Where the requirements of public office are such that the teacher has to relinquish his teaching duties, he should be retained in the profession for seniority and pension purposes and should be able to return to his previous post or to an equivalent post after his term of public office has expired.
   82. Both salaries and working conditions for teachers should be determined through the process of negotiation between teachers' organizations and the employers of teachers.
   83. Statutory or voluntary machinery should be established whereby the right of teachers to negotiate through their organizations with their employers, either public or private, is assured.
   84. Appropriate joint machinery should be set up to deal with the settlement of disputes between the teachers and their employers arising out of terms and conditions of employment. If the means and procedures established for these purposes should be exhausted or if there should be a breakdown in negotiations between the parties, teachers' organizations should have the right to take such other steps as are normally open to other organizations in the defence of their legitimate interests.

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