Is it not time we let teachers teach?

 Being a Headteacher used to be one of the most coveted Jobs for any Welshman or Woman .

So much so that it was common for ambitious teachers to join the Labour Party in the hope that this would aid them with so many councils being then under the firm Thumb of that party.

The Headmaster  of both my Junior School and Grammar School were such people .

The former was a genuine member who served as President  of the NUT and on his retirement became a County Councillor and a supporter of Welsh Language Education in Glamorgan.

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The latter's commitment to the Party seemed to decline when he got his exulted position

Today however BBC Wales reports that

Heavy workloads and pressure on head teachers mean fewer people are inclined to take up the job, a union has said.

More support is need to overcome recruitment issues, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) Cymru said.
More than 100 schools across Wales are currently without a permanent head teacher, research by BBC Wales' Newyddion 9 programme found.
The Welsh government said there was no such "recruitment crisis in Wales".
Eighteen of the 22 Welsh councils responded to requests for information, saying they were carrying 105 head teacher vacancies within the 1,273 maintained schools in their areas.
Julian Jones, of NAHT Cymru, said the pressure on head teachers was dissuading younger teachers from applying.

"Having been within that environment and seeing first-hand what a head teacher has to cope with on a daily basis, these young people think: 'Do I want to be like that?'
"And, quite simply, the answer is 'no' and you can't blame them; and the answer will be 'no' until something changes.

 ""I would level the blame firmly at the Welsh government and any government. They're the ones that have the knee-jerk reaction,"

Ysgol Gynradd Llannon, in Ceredigion, has been without a permanent head teacher since the start of the academic year.
The school has had to advertise the post for a third time after receiving no applications to the first two advertisements, with a retired head teacher filling the void on an interim basis.
Lodwick Lloyd, chair of governors, said: "It's a serious situation as far as we're concerned. We need a head teacher, we need somebody here quick. Any school without a head is like a ship without a captain."

Cardiff, Newport, Neath Port Talbot and Anglesey either failed to provide information or clarify their responses.
Conwy had the highest percentage of posts unfilled at 23.8%, while Swansea had the lowest at 2.1%
Regulator, the Education Workforce Council, said more teachers were gaining the necessary qualification to be a head teacher, meaning the pool of potential candidates would increase over time.

 A friend of mine whao was a highly regarded Headteacher  who was individually praised in in after an Ofsted Inspection quit citing the workload was affecting his health.

It is of course not only Heads who are under pressure . Teachers are bogged down with bureaucracy and the constant threat of being judged by what is in reality meaningless Tables.

If we are to increase standards in Welsh Education rather placing more and more bureaucracy on them free them and their Heads to do hat they joined the profession to do.E nlighten the children of Wales not fill in form after bloody form.