Well it looks like an about-face or u-turn for me as I must correct what you have written. I used to be a regular reader of the Times Educational Supplement (TES) but only read it occasionally nowadays. I was interested however in how teaching shortages in England and Wales were being met. "Cover supervisors" in my opinion are a result of four things in education in England and Wales: -

the government's desire to curb the teaching unions insistence on professionalism;
the need for more non-teaching staff (or 'ancillary workers' as they used to be called);
new entry points into teaching for new graduates or those with experience considering teaching as a career;
the outsourcing of jobs in education to recruitment and consultancy agencies like Capita ( or "Crapita" as it is known in Private Eye magazine for this company's allegedly over-priced and bungling attempts at certain jobs after winning contracts in local government, national government and the NHS).
Teachers get sick and have time off:they also attend conferences; training events and other approved activities during class time. Where events are foreseen, work is set and a supervisor is needed to maintain discipline and ensure good behaviour as well as looking after the teaching resources. It is highly unlikely that unqualified or those without degrees would be expected to teach these classes. So to state that "unqualified teachers can teach in the west after all" is spurious considering that this is an initiative in England and Wales and is not what is being stated by those agencies who are in the business of recruiting.

But don't take my word word it - check the TES and other sources.

Splendid CL, your post was the type of informative and knowledgeable reply I had hoped for, thank you. I was only going by what the lady who e-mailed me said. And she did say I could teach owing to the experience of 'teaching' as an FT, didn't she?