Bursaries of £20,000 are to be created in Scotland for those
wishing to change career and become a teacher in priority
science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) subjects.
This new bursary is the latest in a series of measures the
Scottish Government is taking to recruit more teachers and
in developing Scotland’s STEM capacity.
School subjects which will be eligible for the bursaries are
maths, computing science, physics and technical education but
these will be reviewed each year according to need.
Announcing the bursaries, Deputy First Minister , said:
“We have founded our education reforms on faith in our teachers.
“But in schools in some parts of our country and in some subjects
we know we have a shortage of teachers.
“We have taken a range of actions to help councils tackle that
problem and now I want to go further.
“STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths - are
crucial, not just to the education of our children but the future
of our economy.
“We need to recruit more teachers in these subjects. And to do
that, we need to reach beyond recent graduates and attract people
who have the appropriate subject degree but are working in
business or industry.
“These ‘career-changers’ still need to go through initial teacher
education before they can become teachers – we will never
compromise on quality - but we can make it easier for them to
make that career change.
“And because we understand that they have to balance family and
financial responsibilities that new graduates may not face, we
understand that the prospect of giving up a salary for a year
while they do their teacher training is a real barrier for them.
“I can therefore announce that from next year we will offer
bursaries of £20,000 per person to help them make the change.”
Background
Bursaries will be available to career changers wishing to
undertake an initial teacher education course in Scotland that
leads to the award of registered teacher status in one of the
specified subjects. Applicants will be expected to have a
relevant degree at a level of 2.1 or above with suitable subject
content. Minimum entry requirements for teacher
education courses will also apply. It is anticipated that
the scheme will operate in partnership with local authorities and
universities, and will be in place for recruitment to relevant
teacher education courses starting in August 2018.
