Education recruiters in Wales will have to step in to stop an EU directive putting children at risk.

The EU directive on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications, introduced last month, was intended to make it easier for professionals to move within the EU. However, the part relating to temporary workers failed to require teachers to prove they had no criminal convictions before they could be registered by the relevant teaching council.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland gained an amendment requiring checks to be made in Scotland. In England, it is not the teaching council that does the check, but agencies or schools. But in Wales, where the general council is responsible for criminal records checks, the new directive has opened up a loophole.

Susan Rodaway, founder of Temporary Teachers in Swansea, told Recruiter: “As a mum it scares me that people could be allowed to teach in schools without a criminal records check.”

She said her agency will take extra steps: “I would never send someone to a school who hadn’t had a criminal records check in the previous 12 months, whether that’s by the council, another agency or by us.” She pointed out: “The checks aren’t perfect, but at the moment they are the best way of safeguarding children.”