Today (Mon 5 July) the government has published plans to reform
initial teacher training. Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of
NAHT, which represents leaders in the majority of schools, said:
“It is impossible to fathom why the government thinks that this
is the right time to mess about with the teacher training system.
As the recent report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for the
Teaching Profession showed, there is no crisis in teacher
training that needs fixing – far from it – initial teacher
training providers routinely receive the highest marks from
Ofsted of all the sectors it inspects. As schools focus on
education recovery post-pandemic, this is the worst possible time
to embark on an unnecessary shake-up of teacher training.
“Schools are reliant on the strong and varied network of training
providers across the country, to ensure sufficient supply of
teachers in the subjects and communities where they are needed
most. At a time when more people than ever are looking to join
the profession, these proposals take a sledgehammer to the
existing model of teacher training and will only serve to
significantly reduce the supply of teachers for years to come.
“It is extremely worrying that warnings have gone unheeded, that
many well-respected universities could withdraw from teacher
training as a consequence of these proposals. This consultation
proposes radical, controversial and complex changes to the way in
which teachers are trained and the part that schools play in that
training. There has been no substantive engagement with the
schools sector. Given the far-reaching implications for ITT
providers and schools to consider, a six week consultation is
insufficient and a deadline of 22 August is wholly inappropriate.
"The government needs to pause and take stock, by listening to
the profession and considering the evidence, before determining a
more proportionate approach to supporting continuous improvement
in this sector."
