Teach First pulls out of bid to run new fast-track training course

4

ANDREW DENHOLM

any successful bidder had to work with a university partner, but Scottish institutions agreed unanimously not to work with them.

In addition, the contract made clear the successful bidder would have to hand over the project to the Scottish Government in 2020 along with any intellectual property rights.

A government spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the letter sent by Teach First and a response will be issued in due course.

“We anticipate a number of parties will be interested in bringing forward proposals that aim to improve teacher recruitment, especially around hard-to-fill subjects and geographical areas.

“This pilot programme is about bringing talented graduates into teaching and we are clear that it will require accreditation by the General Teaching Council for Scotland and the involvement of a university to maintain academic rigour.”

Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, welcomed the development. He said: “We have been clear from the start that we did not want Teach First in Scotland as a quick fix because we believe what they do undervalues the profession.

“What we need to be doing is making teaching an attractive profession with better pay to make sure we keep the teachers we have and appeal to new generations of graduates.”

The Government brought forward the fast-track course following a raft of unfilled vacancies at Scottish schools, with particular shortages in rural communities and in priority areas such as science and maths.

But there was widespread concern from teaching unions over the introduction of Teach First because of its style of on-the-job training. Recruits attend an intensive fiveweek summer school before being placed in schools.

However, that approach has been criticised because it places an unqualified member of staff in front of a classroom.

Last month, The Herald revealed that the Scottish Council of Deans of Education had agreed not to work with the body.

It said Teach First was not compatible with its aims of recruiting teachers for a career in the profession.

Under Teach First, some graduates use the scheme to gain leadership experience before moving on to other careers, which means retention rates are lower than for other courses.

James Westhead, executive director for Teach First, said: “Whilst we believe we could help make a positive contribution to closing the attainment gap, we have decided not to bid for the current tender. As we have said previously, we would want to ensure sufficient time to develop a new programme.

“We feel the current timeline can deliver a quality programme, but only for a provider already established in Scotland.”

Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservative Party, said the decision was a “big blow”.

Buster: Waggy dog story has happy ending.