On the 6th January 2017, the Teaching Council commenced the retrospective vetting process, under Section 33 (Registration Renewal) of the Teaching Act 2001-2015. At that time, there were approximately 33,000 registered teachers who were never vetted by the Council as vetting was not a requirement at the time they were registered.
For this group of teachers vetting is a requirement of their 2017 registration renewal with the Council, and failure to apply for vetting requirement would mean that those teachers would be putting their registration renewal at risk. If registration is not renewed, teachers would not receive their salaries.
The Council contacted approximately 6,700 teachers out of this cohort of un-vetted teachers in January and requested them to apply for vetting in advance of their registration renewal. Only those teachers requested to apply for vetting are required to comply in advance of their renewal date in line with the timelines set out in the notifications. The remainder will be requested to complete the process on a scheduled basis throughout 2017.
While the great majority (90%) of this initial group complied with the vetting requirements, a small number failed to meet their deadline. The Council has sent letters, emails and text reminders to the teachers concerned over the past two months. The council will now commence a process to remove these teachers from the register.
As the year progresses, the balance of the 33,000 teachers will be contacted on a randomly selected basis, asking them to apply for vetting in advance of their renewal date. Teachers should await formal written contact from the Council before applying for vetting.
Teachers should note that the requirements for vetting under Circular 0031/2016 will continue to apply for all teachers who are changing employment. Therefore anyone applying for new posts requiring vetting should apply directly to the Council as part of the standard vetting process.
The retrospective vetting process only applies to teachers who have never applied for vetting via the Council. Teachers who hold a vetting letter from the Council (pre-29 April 2016), or have completed the NVB on-line vetting offered by the Council (since 29 April 2016, are deemed vetted and thereby excluded from this process. Teachers can check their vetting status by logging onto the My Registration section of the Council’s website and clicking the vetting tab on the screen.
More information can be found on the vetting section of the Council’s website.
