The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

most basic job in education – providing enough teachers for our schools.”
However, a spokeswoman for the Department for Education (DfE) disputed the idea of a crisis,
saying the figures showed that teaching “continues to be an attractive career”.
“Secondary postgraduate recruitment is at its highest level since 2011 and we have recruited more
trainees in key subjects including physics, maths, modern foreign languages, biology, chemistry and
geography than we did last year,” she said.
“The quality of new entrants also continues to be high, with 18% of this year’s cohort again holding a
first-class degree – the highest on record and up from 10% in 2010-11. This shows that teaching is as
popular as ever among the most talented graduates.
“But we recognise that there are challenges, which is why we are investing more than £1.3bn over
this parliament so we can continue to attract the brightest and best into teaching.”
Recruitment was up by 12% in maths this year compared with last year, and by 15% in physics.
The National Union of Teachers has previously said there is “increasing evidence of a crisis in
teacher recruitment and retention, just as the number of pupils and the demand for new teachers begins
to increase sharply”.
It attributed the problems in attracting new recruits to “excessive workload and attacks on pay [that]
are driving away teachers”.
In June, the public accounts committee criticised the DfE for having no plan for how to meet its
targets and failing to understand “the difficult reality that many schools face in recruiting teachers”.
Almost one-third of teachers who began their career in 2010 quit the classroom within five years of
qualifying, according to government figures.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/dec/28/labour-warns-ofteacher-training-crisis-after-targets-missed-again
| Section Menu | Main Menu |