Kennedy promises specialist teachers for core subjects
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has said all secondary school core subjects should be taught by specialist teachers.
At a press conference this morning, Mr Kennedy said that if the Liberal Democrats win the election, all secondary school children will be taught the “core subjects” of English, maths, science, modern languages and information and communications technology (ICT) by teachers who specialise in that subject.
Claiming that there are currently almost half a million core subject lessons which are not taught by specialist teachers, the Liberal Democrats have announced that, if elected to power, they will invest £230 million in training staff to teach core.
That money will be put into training 44,000 teachers in those core subjects to tackle the problem of a lack of specialist teachers.
Mr Kennedy said: “There is no substitute for expert, enthusiastic teaching when it comes to bringing out the best in our children.”
He added: “We will offer high-level in-service training to teachers who would like to teach a new subject. This will be fair to teachers – giving them the tools to do the job. And fair to pupils – ensuring quality and expert teaching.”
Meanwhile, education spokesman Phil Willis lamented the fact that one in four maths teachers do not have any maths qualifications above A-level, adding: “Teachers are professionals – they want and deserve proper professional training.”
The Liberal Democrats’ focus on the education system comes following Mr Kennedy’s announcement on Tuesday that his party would create a society to provide young people with “the dignity and security it offers older people”.
Tony Blair is also set to focus strongly on education today when he makes a keynote speech on Labour’s education plans.
