The Government’s teacher training reforms have brought a renewed threat of school staff shortages according to university education departments.
Schools and specially trained mentors are dropping out of training, says the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, leaving teacher trainers unable to find the crucial work placements for students, some of whom have to travel hundreds of miles as a consequence. In some popular institutions this has actually restricted recruitment, with shortage subjects like science, maths and modern languages suffering worst.
A UCET survey of 57 universities shows general under-recruitment in both postgraduate (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) and undergraduate (Bachelor of Education) courses. Eighteen university education departments had under-recruited in maths, 21 in modern languages and 15 in science. More than 50 had under-recruited on the BEd.
Some university education departments had deliberately held down their numbers, despite the risks of fines from the funding bodies, because they knew they would be unable to place the students. This affected 14 in science and 12 in modern languages.
“As we had been warning the Department for Education and the Teacher Training Agency for some time, the increased demands on the schools are such that they are reluctant to take part, because they will be unable to do the job properly,” said Mary Russell, secretary of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers.
“The situation is likely to worsen rather than improve” She said that particular problems have been caused by schools pulling out of agreements at a late stage, and by specially trained mentors - the school staff overseeing the students - deciding not to continue.
Under changes made by former education secretary, Kenneth Clarke, postgraduate trainees wishing to teach in secondary schools must now spend at least two-thirds of their time in the classroom - a large burden for the schools concerned.
“The position is probably not as bleak as this survey would suggest,” said a spokesman for the Teacher Training Agency. “Some higher education institutions are faring better than others. And some schools have been quicker than others to seize on the benefits of partnership with higher education, including improvements in classroom practice and professional development.”
