Fast track farce

John Swinney has admitted that cutting the target number of student teacher places from 4,437 to 2,307 in 2011 was an “overcorrection” – in normal parlance an error.

It is good to see, however, that the SNP have acted quickly to correct their error. Following a model the Tories have adopted in England they will “fast track” graduates into our classrooms by dovetailing the postgraduate theoretical grounding and the induction process, thereby cutting significantly the time spent on training.

This is surely a winner. Indeed, perhaps this method could also could be used to solve the problems the SNP have similarly created in the health service. Recruits could be fasttracked into our GP surgeries and hospitals to alleviate the drastic shortage of doctors and nurses. Like trainee teachers, suitable candidates could surely learn

on the job. I do hope, however, that we don’t run short of pilots any time soon.

COLIN HAMILTON Braid Hills Avenue, Edinburgh