MORE than 200 teachers in a borough do not hold Government-approved teaching qualifications, according to figures.

The statistics, released by Greenwich Conservatives, show 203 teachers in Greenwich do not have qualified teacher status.

And the figures show 143 of the teachers work in secondary schools and sixth forms.

Under Government teaching guidelines, all state school teachers are required to have reached qualified teacher status.

The status is achieved through a training course approved by the Training and Development Agency for Schools.

Guidelines state unqualified teachers should only be employed where there is no qualified teacher to fill the role.

Conservative leader Councillor Spencer Drury said: "In my view, there is a link between the fact that in 2007 Greenwich had the worst pass rate for five A* to C GCSEs in the country and the poor qualifications of our teachers.

"To achieve academic success requires teachers to be confident in their subject and classroom technique, which an unqualified teacher may not be.

"The council has intervened relentlessly in our schools, but has done nothing to ensure we get properly qualified teachers in front of our children."

The figures include 59 teachers at Shooters Hill Post 16 Campus in Red Lion Lane, Shooters Hill, and 18 from Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke Park Road, Blackheath.

But divisional secretary for Greenwich NUT Tim Woodcock said the figure could be explained by a high number of qualified teachers from overseas.

He said: "It doesn't mean that kids aren't being adequately taught at all.

"There's a shortage of teachers across the country and also teaching is a job where, at the moment, there's a high fallout rate and as a result many schools are having to fill those places and fill them quickly."

"The obvious way of filling them is with teachers from overseas."

A spokesman for Greenwich Council said recruitment was a matter for schools and governing bodies.