Schools should have useless teachers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1293797/Every-school-bad-teacher-Schools-chief-extraordinary-outburst.html

Ofsted chairman Zenna Atkins says that schools should have a few bad teachers. She says that she has watched pupils who learn a lot by managing those dreadful teachers, also claiming that “children learn how to manage people who are not good at their jobs”. Atkin’s comments are at odds with Christine Gilbert, Ofsted’s chief inspector of schools, who has recently attacked a core of bad teachers in the British system. Atkins has made it clear that this is her own opinion and not that of Ofsted’s. An Ofsted spokesperson has said that “Ofsted has an unshakeable commitment to ensuring children benefit from good teachers in every lessen”. Former Ofsted inspector and headmaster of the independent Bristol Grammar School Rod MacKinnon has said to be amazed and horrified, adding that we should be seeking to give children the best education possible.

I fully agree with Mr. MacKinnon. I actually grasped when I first read the headline of the article, thinking that it is utter nonsense. While children might learn something from “managing” bad teachers, I believe that they learn a lot more from actually having good teachers who are good at their job and enthusiastic for their subject. I understand Ofsted’s decision to distance itself from the comments, as these are not statements that you want to associate yourself with when you are an organisation that inspects schools. I have also read in the article that Mrs. Atkins will be leaving Ofsted on the 31st of August 2010. I think that is a good thing, because people who believe children can learn something from bad teachers, should not be the chairman from something as big as Ofsted.