Recruitment and Retention of Teachers

Debate between Louise Haigh and Ian Mearns

Thursday 18th June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh]

My hon. Friend makes a really important point. Government reforms have done little to help in that regard. The Government’s push towards recruiting teachers via School Direct has created a confused and fragmented system, with schools across the country reporting that they are struggling to access the School Direct programme. That will only get worse in the upcoming school year, as 17,000 places formerly allocated to university departments are transferred to School Direct. Since its creation by the former Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), the School Direct programme has under-recruited every single year.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Is my hon. Friend aware that figures produced by TeachVac show that teacher recruitment is more difficult in this year than it has been at any time for a decade? With something like 800,000 children coming into the system over the next decade or so, a national strategy will be needed to solve this important problem.

[Louise Haigh]

My hon. Friend raises an important point, which is further evidence of more failed ideological experiments from the Tories.