THE Tory Internal Market Bill “poses a threat to the education system and the quality of teaching in Scottish schools,” the General Teaching Council of Scotland has warned.

In an extraordinary intervention, the body responsible for the professional registration of teachers, say they’re concerned that the legislation - currently making its way through Westminster - doesn’t recognise that education is a devolved matter, and that “a separate Scottish education system has been recognised and preserved since the Act of Union.”

Under the Bill, Scotland will need to recognise the teaching qualifications and experience of teachers from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, despite the requirements needed to stand in front of a classroom in Scotland being substantially higher than it is south of the border.

They also warn that it could mean having to accept ‘unqualified’ teachers into secondary schools - that is teachers who don’t hold a relevant degree in the subject they teach.

In England, the academy system who operate outside the national curriculum can a.so employ professionals who have no teaching experience.

Now the GTCS has urged all teachers in Scotland to write to their MPs about the legislation.

Kenneth Muir, chief executive and registrar of the GTCS, said: "The bill means that GTC Scotland would seem to be expected to give full registration to teachers from any of the jurisdictions in the UK, irrespective if they are highly qualified or unqualified.

"Our key concern about the bill is the extent to which current registered teachers, users of the education system and parents would feel that would be watering down the teaching profession in Scotland.

"Entry to our register is predicated on a high standard of qualification, with the 76,600 people on our register having gone through tough times in gaining a degree or equivalent and a teaching qualification, and I think many of them would be very upset if colleagues coming into their schools came in through a much less significant, less demanding route."

Muir added: "There is a strong legal basis to the work we do as the body that regulates the teaching profession in Scotland. Given that the bill excepts the legal professions across the UK from its requirements, GTC Scotland feels there is an equally strong argument for the teaching profession in Scotland to be excepted.

"As the professional body for all of Scotland’s teachers, we have written to our registrants and urged them to raise our concerns with their local MP. It is only by MPs supporting the amendments to the [UK Internal Market] Bill that we can protect the very high standards that are set for our teachers in Scotland and protect the quality of teaching that our children receive and deserve."

SNP's Shadow Education Secretary Carol Monaghan said the Bill was "bad for teachers and ultimately bad for pupils."

She added: “The Scottish Parliament has already decisively voted to reject granting consent for the deeply damaging Bill and the unprecedented threat to the Scottish Parliament’s powers. 

"It's clear beyond any doubt that Westminster is not acting in Scotland's interests, and that the only way to properly safeguard our interests, protect our Parliament, and strengthen standards currently in place, is by becoming an independent country."