TEACHERS should make a promise similar to the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors, committing themselves to the value of their profession, the shadow education secretary has announced.

Labour’s Tristam Hunt said the symbolic statement, which would be made when teachers qualify, would help to ‘elevate’ the profession’s status and stress the ‘moral calling and the noble profession of teaching’.

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The announcement comes after the MP visited Singapore, where he was searching for ideas to adopt into the English system.

The Asian country has one of the highest-performing education systems in the world and has ‘total prioritisation on teacher quality’, Mr Hunt said.

But one East Lancashire headteacher described the proposal as a gimmick.

Tim Mitchell, from Norden High School and Sports College, in Stourton Street, Rishton, said: “Teaching is a vocation, not a job. By becoming a teacher, we have already determined that we are there to do the very best for young people, and to look after their best interests.

“Personally, I don’t think you need a gimmick such as a Hippocratic oath to do that.

We have got systems in place, such as Teacher Standards.”

Mr Hunt said: “There is a teacher's oath about continuing to learn and to pass on the love of learning. I'm very attracted by this notion of having almost a Hippocratic oath about the meaning and purpose of teaching.”

It is expected improving the quality of education will be a key theme for Labour as the party starts setting out its plans for the election.

It is expected that the changes to the curriculum, with exams at the end of GCSE study, rather than modules, would stay.

However plans to scrap A-level exams would be reversed.

Simon Jones, who represents East Lancashire members of the National Union of Teachers said: “It’s just a bit of window dressing rather than tackling the core issues that matter to teachers.

“What we really need to do to re-engage with teachers would be to make commitments to tackle the intolerable workloads.

“Over 90 per cent of teachers have considering leaving in the last two years before of the excessive workloads.”