Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Edward Timpson Excerpts
Monday 2nd March 2015

(9 years, 8 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Caroline Dinenage Portrait Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)
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8. What assessment she has made of the potential benefits to pupils of the expansion of the Troops to Teachers programme.

Edward Timpson Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)
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Service leavers have a wealth of skills and experiences that are transferable to classrooms, including teamwork, leadership—[Interruption.]

John Bercow Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. There is very discordant noise in the Chamber. A very respected Minister, Mr Timpson, is endeavouring to answer a question and I think pupils in the average classroom around the country would behave rather better. I remind the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), in all gentleness and charity, that he is something of an elder statesman in this House and we look to him to set an example to other colleagues.

Edward Timpson Portrait Mr Timpson
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Thank you, Mr Speaker. Anyone would imagine that there is an election on the horizon.

There are 84 trainees on the Troops to Teachers scheme and the expansion of the programme allows even more talented service leavers to make an important contribution to our children’s education.

Caroline Dinenage Portrait Caroline Dinenage
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My Gosport constituency has very strong links to the armed forces, particularly in Navy engineering. Does my hon. Friend agree that schemes such as Troops for Training can only help to spread expertise to students in my area?

Edward Timpson Portrait Mr Timpson
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I absolutely agree. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently visited Bristol to see for herself the latest cohort being trained, and she was hugely impressed by both their calibre and their commitment. Along with my hon. Friend the Member for Gosport (Caroline Dinenage), I strongly encourage schools in Gosport and elsewhere to contact the university of Brighton to secure a trainee for this September and benefit from the next tranche of Troops to Teachers.

Nigel Evans Portrait Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)
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10. What steps she is taking to encourage pupils to study modern languages.

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Philip Hollobone Portrait Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
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18. What progress has been made on attracting former members of the armed forces to become teachers.

Edward Timpson Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)
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There are currently two cohorts of former service leavers on the Troops to Teachers programme, totalling 84 trainees. The university of Brighton is proactively working with the Department for Education and the Ministry of Defence to promote the expansion of the scheme through a targeted marketing and recruitment campaign, including attendance at recruitment fairs and MOD resettlement centres, as well as promotion through a variety of online and other publications.

Philip Hollobone Portrait Mr Hollobone
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Those who served in Her Majesty’s armed forces represent Britain at its very best. Getting these individuals into our schools needs to be a key priority for any Government. Can the Minister supercharge this policy and put rocket boosters under it so that many more troops are turned into teachers?

Edward Timpson Portrait Mr Timpson
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My hon. Friend’s long-standing support for this policy is extremely gratefully received. He will be pleased to hear there has been a huge interest in the latest cohort, which will take up its training in September this year. It is our intention to do what we can to expand the programme in the future for the very good reasons my hon. Friend has given.

Lord Harrington of Watford Portrait Richard Harrington (Watford) (Con)
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20. If she will encourage and extend the use of the Teach First scheme.