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Updated: Monday, December 28, 2009 | Printer Friendly Version | |

TEACHER TRAINING CUTS THREATEN SUPPORT FOR NEW TEACHERS

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has warned that cuts to University teacher education provision will have a damaging impact on the teacher induction scheme in schools across Scotland. The Scottish Government has recently decided to cut back on the number of new teachers being trained, which will compound the current problem of a falling number of teachers in Scottish schools. The reduction in student teacher numbers will also lead to cutbacks in University education staffing, and in a loss of visiting tutor support for student teachers in schools.

Commenting on the emerging problem, EIS General Secretary Ronnie Smith said, “Scotland's teacher induction scheme, introduced as part of the landmark 21st Century Teachers' Agreement in 2001, is world-renowned and provides a guaranteed year of practical school-based experience for all new teachers following their graduation from our teacher education institutions. The induction scheme is invaluable, both for new teachers themselves and also for Scottish education which benefits from the continuing, properly supported, introduction of new teachers to the profession. So it is a matter of serious concern that the success of the induction scheme is now being threatened by deep cutbacks in teacher education provision and the loss of many university education lecturers who provide such valuable support to student teachers.”

Mr Smith added, “The radical cuts in the number of new teachers being trained is bad news for Scottish education, both at school and university level. These cuts are hitting the budgets of teacher education departments in universities, and forcing them to reduce their numbers of lecturing staff. This will lead to a loss of expertise in the teacher education institutions, and raises questions over capacity when the number of trainee teachers rises inevitably over the next few years, since around one-third of experienced classroom teachers are scheduled to retire within a few years. Cutting back on the number of trainee teachers and the number of university education lecturers is remarkably short-sighted, and runs the risk of creating a massive problem in a few years' time.”

Mr Smith added, “The impact of the cuts is being felt in schools too, with less university tutor support available for student teachers on placement in schools. Experienced teachers in schools will always do their very best to support student or probationer colleagues, but their own existing workload commitments mean that they cannot be expected to pick up additional responsibilities to compensate for the loss of university tutor support.”

Mr Smith went on to add, “The Scottish Government has adopted the easy answer to the problem of lack of job opportunities for new teachers by slashing the future student intakes. But their focus should be on stimulating demand for new teachers, not cutting the supply. Local authorities have been allowed to shrink the teaching force by almost 2,500 over the past two years and the prospects for the coming year are even worse.”

“The Scottish Government should re-commit to maintaining teacher numbers at 53,000 and guarantee an appropriate national staffing standard across all schools. Scotland needs more teachers in order to make progress on class sizes and create the time and space for teachers to progress on the Curriculum for Excellence. We simply cannot afford to discard teachers or the skills of the teacher educators working in our universities.”

(ENDS)

For further information, please contact Brian Cooper,

e-mail: bcooper@eis.org.uk