Commenting on the Department for Education’s statistical release
on Initial Teacher Training (ITT) for 2017/18, Kevin
Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education
Union, said:
“Government’s failure to be more joined up in its thinking means
that it’s not recruiting the teachers we need. Without changes to
education policies, government will fail to meet its own targets
of raising education standards, or increasing Britain’s
productivity; and pupils’ learning will suffer too.
“Today’s ITT census figures make for sobering reading, with only
two out of the 18 postgraduate secondary routes reaching their
targets, in PE and History. With the increase of pupils
numbers at secondary level, and the resulting need for more
teachers there, this is an incredibly worrying, if not
surprising, outcome for those in secondary schools.
“We hope that these figures will make government take a hard look
at their policy around the EBacc; the enforced split between
EBacc and non-EBacc has made a big mess of teacher supply.
Recruitment for secondary EBacc subjects is only 84% of the
government’s target, while non-EBacc subjects are an even more
alarming 69%.
“EBacc dogma and rising pupil numbers mean that far more teachers
are needed for EBacc subjects, yet the government have still
failed to make the profession more attractive by achieving
significant reductions in teachers’ workload or reversing
real-term pay cuts. Meanwhile, policy is marginalising
non-EBacc subjects, including some that would underpin its push
towards new vocational qualifications, like Design and
Technology, and this has led to fewer prospective teachers
applying.
“With Brexit looming ever nearer and a growing skills crisis, the
continued failure to recruit the required number of teachers to
science subjects like Physics and Biology grows ever more
glaring.
“The key challenge for the Government has to be make teaching
more attractive. This requires a far more serious and joined up
approach to tackling workload. It also means addressing the issue
of teachers’ pay which has fallen steadily behind other graduate
professions. Government needs a serious and coherent plan for
teacher recruitment, and it must also review the impact of
policies like EBacc, on recruitment and retention.”
