Teachers with criminal records could start work in Essex schools next week - or children could be sent home while their background is checked, it was revealed today.
The Criminal Records Bureau, which vets school staff, still faces a backlog of 1,000 applications from people wanting to start work in Essex education authority schools at the start of the new academic year.
And that will leave headteachers with an agonising choice:
Employ a teacher who may have a criminal past or
Wait for the teacher to be vetted - and send pupils home because of staff shortages
Fears that schools could be employing staff with a criminal past have heightened in the wake of the murders of Soham youngsters Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Nationwide, there are 20,000 school staff waiting for clearance despite extra staff being drafted in by the Government.
The latest backlog figure means Essex schools must now decide whether to let a teaching post remain vacant at the start of term next week or fill it with a teacher who has not undergone criminal checks.
An Essex County Council spokesman said: "The worst case scenario would be the posts will not be filled and children would have to remain at home while schools wait six weeks for the checks to be carried out.
"If the checks are not done in time, we will have a really difficult situation where staff could be working in classes without full checks. The decision is up to the individual schools."
Published Wednesday August 28, 2002
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