Teacher training in ‘Crisis’
I’m sure you’ve all seen the ‘Educating’ series on TV this year. Whether its Yorkshire or Cardiff, the popular TV programme is actually raising public awareness towards the real problem hitting our schools and colleges.
As we have grown to love and respect the teacher figures in these series, it is imperative that the message hits home : The teaching profession is in crisis, with a real danger of it not being able to meet the needs of our growing society.
The hot topic is not only the focus for our entertainment purposes, it is often the topic of many political debates. The Conservative Party conference featured a lengthy speech by the President of the Association of School and College Leavers, Mr Alan Foulds. The highlight was that the schools system is near breaking point.
The low number of teachers currently going through training are unable to meet the numbers needed. Mr Foulds explains the situation stems back to the low birth rates of the 1990s – this led to subsequently less graduates available and choosing to go into teaching. At the same time, the number of pupils is increasing, with the numbers of school children under 16 set to rise to a peak of 7.85 million by 2020.
There is a real danger that the system will reach breaking point and that schools will be forced to drop more courses and increase class sizes even further. This situation puts in jeopardy the huge progress that has been made by schools and undermines the drive to further raise standards.
As a result, a yearly government campaign Your Future: Their Future drives recruitment of high-quality teachers into England’s classrooms.
So there you go – the next time you’ll see the teacher friendly TV adds in-between your weekly shows, you’ll be able to pass this message on! Maybe you’ve got a grad or two floating around the house who can become the next Miss or Mr. in your High School classes!
For further information please visit the Department of Education’s finely put together website here: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/bursaries-and-funding.
Until Next Time,
Elisa