Thursday - August 07, 2008

Teenagers as young as 16 are to be drafted into primary schools to plug gaps left by teacher shortag

Be interesting to see how this one works out.

16-year-olds to work in primary schools

By Lewis Carter

Under the Government plans, young people will be offered apprenticeships to train as teaching assistants in primary school classrooms.

However ministers have been urged to abandon the “absurd” scheme, amid fears teenagers were underqualified and too immature to work in schools.

Phil Parkin, general secretary of the 35,000-strong teaching union Voice, said: “At 16-years-old the vast majority of young people are simply not mature enough to work in a classroom.

“In many ways their behaviour is not a lot different from the children they will be teaching. And schools should not be a dumping ground for youngsters that can’t get a job elsewhere either, we need high standards of literacy and numeracy to drive up quality.

“There’s also a question mark over whether schools will have the financial capacity to support the help with development these teenagers will need.”

Government hopes each of the 18,000 primary schools in England will have its own trainee classroom assistant via the scheme. The new recruits will help fill the void created by rules which allocate teachers time to mark and prepare work during school hours.

Under the plans apprentices will cover for teachers in group reading and other simple lessons, eventually moving on to more complicated tasks.

Nick Gibb MP, the Tory shadow schools minister, said: “I think this idea is totally absurd. Schools need to be run professionally and as a basic requirement there should not be anyone under the age of 18 working in them – after they have achieved the necessary qualifications.

“I hope the Government will realise this is a non-starter and drop the plans.”

As part of the proposals, a diploma for 14-year-olds, the same level as a GCSE, is also being created in Society, Health and Development to offer the skills required to get on the apprenticeship schemes.

The move to further bolster classroom support comes three years after rules were introduced stating teachers in England were allowed 10 per cent of their timetable for the planning, preparation and assessment of lessons.

The “PPA time” proved popular with teachers but it has put financial pressure on schools, leading to accusations of gross underfunding.

Last week the Daily Telegraph reported that schools were relying on poorly-paid assistants – most of whom do not have full teaching qualifications – to plug gaps in the teaching workforce.

The number of classroom assistants has soared almost threefold from 61,000 to 177,000 in the past 10 years, far higher than the 10 per cent increase in teachers over the same period.

Earlier this year the public sector union Unison claimed that teaching assistants were a method of teaching children “on the cheap”.

It called for tough new rules to stamp out the exploitation of teaching assistants, who earn an average of just £50 a day, compared to a supply teacher who earns £150.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “Teaching assistants play an increasingly vital role in schools. Our qualification reforms will ensure a range of routes to the world of work are available meaning there will be something for everyone.”

http://tinyurl.com/6rg5fl

Posted by Drew458     on 08/07/2008 at 12:05 PM   
Filed Under: • Education • UK •  
• Comments (3) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner