Fresh blow to Scotland’s young school teachers Threat issued on new teachers’ qualifications

Anthony Finn, chief executive of the GTCS, has urged local authorities to reduce the time future students spend teaching, rather than studying, at the start of their training year in schools.

If they refuse, Mr Finn said, the ultimate sanction would be to prevent student teachers from qualifying after their training year.

The warning comes after figures published last week showed only one in five new teachers in Scotland found a permanent, full-time job after qualifying in 2009-10 because of a chronic shortage of positions. Every year there are some 2800 trainee teachers.

The latest row comes after councils, some teaching unions and the Scottish Government agreed that the amount of time trainees spend in the classroom should be increased from just under 16 hours a week to more than 18 as part of wider cost cuts.

The move saves councils money because it means they don’t have to pay the salaries of fully-qualified teachers for the time trainees spend teaching. However, the GTCS believes leaving student teachers with just four hours a week to reflect on their learning, speak to experienced staff and observe lessons is not enough.

Mr Finn is now demanding that councils should not make students work longer until later in their training year, when they are more confident and experienced.

“New teachers need an opportunity not only to practise the skills they have learned in the classroom, but also to think about how they could do things better and discuss with experienced teachers ways in which they could improve,” he said.

“An allocation of four hours per week is unlikely to allow Scotland to retain an induction scheme which is viable.

“While recognising that local authorities want to make savings, we want to configure the hours trainees spend teaching differently to make sure they have at least one day a week of reflection up to the Easter break.

“If there were difficulties achieving that in any council area we would have to consider whether teachers in those areas would be entitled to reach the expected standard. If teachers don’t reach the standard then they would not qualify.”

Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said the increase in teaching time was “hugely detrimental” to the education of staff on probation.

“An excellent teacher will still be able to achieve the standard, but they won’t have the opportunity to develop the other skills they need to become truly effective,” she said.

“Those who need to work harder to reach the standard will really struggle and more of them are going to fail, which is hugely detrimental to the education of young people.”

A spokesman for the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union added: “A change to the number of hours of teaching commitment for induction-year teachers was agreed. The EIS stands by this agreement, but also recognises the role of the GTCS in upholding standards in teaching and maintaining the integrity of Scotland’s highly regarded teacher induction scheme.

“All local authorities should heed the message from the GTCS as to how the revised detail should be implemented.

“The scheme was designed to ensure all new teachers build up their class teaching experience and skills as well as ensuring appropriate time for development, mentoring and support.”

A spokesman for Cosla, the umbrella body for councils, played down the threat, saying it expected local authorities to endorse the view of the GTCS.

“We confidently anticipate Scotland’s councils will welcome the flexibility this agreement with the GTCS now offers,” he said.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The ... flexibility that can be factored into timetabling arrangements for probationers will help ensure they have the time and space they need to learn as part of their professional development.”

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