New teachers face background checks to improve child safety in schools New teachers face extra character tests before they commence studies. A new draft report has recommended principals get power to 'grade' teachers and sack those who are failing. TELL US: Will this improve child safety at schools? UNIVERSITY entrants wanting to study teaching would have to undergo criminal-history and child-protection checks before they began their degrees as part of a plan by the State Government to improve child safety in schools. Education Minister Jennifer Rankine is in talks with the state's three universities to have all potential teaching students screened. The screening would be for past criminal offences and other red flags that would prevent them having contact with children. The child-protection checks would be conducted by the Communities and Social Inclusion Department. It would screen for issues that may not have resulted in a conviction but could still put children at risk. The new rules come ahead of a long-awaited report by former judge Bruce Debelle into serious sexual incidents in schools. It is not known when Mr Debelle will deliver his report to the Government. Ms Rankine is also proposing changes that would: BAR anyone from becoming a teacher if they were convicted of child-pornography offences, serious sexual offences or other crimes that are yet to be defined. REQUIRE all people contracted to work with schoolchildren, such as youth workers or adults at senior colleges with students under 18, to undergo criminal-history and child- protection checks. The changes announced today extend checks to prospective teaching students, workers and volunteers contracted by the Education Department and adults enrolling at senior colleges. "Someone may not have a criminal offence but they may have had their own children removed from their care," Ms Rankine said. She said she wanted the new rules implemented by the end of the year, either through policy changes or legislation, if necessary. The move follows revelations of eight serious sexual incidents in public schools since October, some involving teachers, youth workers and an after-school hours carer. The Government has come under fire over its handling of the cases and faced criticism from the Opposition about a lack of clear guidelines for child protection and delays in notifying parents. In one case, a criminal-history check of a youth worker revealed a prior indecent behaviour offence - but he was still allowed to work with children. He was later charged with sex offences involving a 16-year-old. Ms Rankine said the changes were about "sending a message that we only want the most ethical people entering the teaching profession." "It's about protecting the (teaching) profession and building confidence in the profession," she said. Ms Rankine said she "wasn't prepared to sit and wait" for Mr Debelle's report before taking action. I'm very keen to ... see what his recommendations are but, in the meantime, where I see something that can be done ... to help raise confidence in the teaching profession, I'll do it. Last month The Advertiser revealed teachers would for the first time undergo child-protection checks - plus criminal-history checks - from next year under a plan for the most rigorous screening in the country. Teaching students now undergo criminal-history checks in order to undertake practical work at a school or when they are registering with the Teachers Registration Board. Under the new plan, they would face both criminal and child-protection checks as a condition of enrolling in the course. "If you have a dubious record, you won't even start your study," Ms Rankine said. UniSA School of Education head Professor Geraldine Castleton said the university encouraged students to get a criminal-history check done when they began their degrees. And Dr Jan Keightley, of the University of Adelaide School of Education, said the university supported an additional child-protection check.