TEACHER training is the worst business to be in as far as higher education is concerned, a TES survey has found. It shows that some of the country’s leading teacher-training providers are struggling to finance their courses.

One high-profile school of education has to shed eight jobs by Christmas. And a handful of departments say they are facing shortfalls of between pound;100,000 and pound;240,000 a year - one said it had been in deficit for several years.

Around a third of the 23 universities which responded to the telephone survey, which guaranteed anonymity, are subsidising education departments by reducing their contributions towards centrally provided services, such as personnel and libraries. Other departments are reliant on research income, or on staff working longer hours than colleagues in other areas.

Even those institutions with financially healthy education departments say teacher training is “the worst business” in HE.

All university activities have been squeezed in recent years, with “efficiency savings” leading to reduced per-student funding and staff salaries falling behind comparable professionals.

But survey respondents said teacher-training courses bear additional costs which the Government and some universities fail to acknowledge. These include partnerships with schools, additional inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (every year for the last seven in one department), and staff recruitment problems caused by higher pay rates for teachers in schools.

One average-sized provider is paying pound;160,000 to pound;180,000 a year to its partnership schools, another around pound;1,100 per intern. A third said a school had demanded pound;2,000 to take a science trainee. Others fear goodwill is wearing thin, leading to problems placing students. One has trainees without placements for teaching-practice sessions that started last week.

“When the Government required us to pay school partners, there was never any more money in the system. The only way we could afford it would be to sack lots of staff,” said one head of education.

However, a spokesman for the Teacher Training Agency said partnership costs were reflected in its funding, which is higher than that provided by the HE Funding Council for England for non-teacher-training courses.

Peter Gilroy, chairman of the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers, said: “We have always maintained that the system is underfunded. If ministers want a high-class profession, they need the money there to support it.”

Despite the problems, most universities see teacher education as key to their provision. Two have invested millions of pounds in new facilities and buildings. But at least three reported reducing or pulling out of undergraduate training.

october 26 2001 TES 9 www.tes.co.uk contacts Poor relation? Teaching practice sessions started last week but some fear that goodwill is running thin, leading to problems finding placements neil turner