28 January 2005
Fast-track 'learn on the job' teacher training courses are failing to meet desired standards, school inspectors said this week. The Graduate Teacher Programme pays trainees to work in a school on an unqualified teachers' salary. Training takes anything from three months to a school year, depending on experience.
But Ofsted has found that only a small proportion of GTP-trained teachers teach 'very well', compared with teachers who have used conventional training routes.
Chief schools' inspector David Bell said: 'There is also a need to address the issue of trainees' subject knowledge, which isn't as good as it could be.' However, he praised the commitment and determination of GTP trainees and the success of the programme in filling gaps in subjects where there are teacher shortages.
Figures released by the Teacher Training Agency on January 20 showed that increasing numbers of professionals are electing to retrain as teachers.
TTA acting director Mike Watkins said: 'More than a third of people entering teacher training are over 30 years old, with many having worked in another field before becoming teachers.
'The knowledge and expertise these professionals have developed is often extremely valuable to the teaching profession, especially those with a mathematics, science and modern languages background – subjects where we require additional teachers.'
PFjan2005
