Quality | 2010.01.17
Tories unveil 'elitist' teaching plans
Cameron launches \'brazenly elitist\' plan to woo top talent into teaching while deterring those with third-class degrees
David Cameron will today unveil "brazenly elitist" plans to deter graduates with third-class degrees and those from some former polytechnics from entering the teaching profession.
As part of a push to make teaching "the noble profession" attracting the "best brains", a Tory government would deny state funding for training to graduates who achieve a third.
Students who achieve a 2:1 or above in maths or a "rigorous science subject from a good university" could apply to have their student loan written off. This definition would exclude mainly graduates from most former polytechnics, renamed universities in 1992.
At the launch of the education section of the Tories\' draft general election manifesto, Cameron will declare that he hopes to emulate Finland, Singapore and South Korea, which have attracted some of the brightest graduates into teaching by making it a "high-prestige profession".
The Tory leader will say: "They are brazenly elitist – making sure only the top graduates can apply. They have turned it into the career path if you\'ve got a good degree … We should be equally bold here. So we will end the current system where people with third-class degrees can get taxpayers\' money to enter postgraduate teacher training.
"With our plans, if you want to become a teacher – and get funding for it – you need a 2:2 or higher. And we will also make sure we get some of the best graduates into teaching by offering to pay off their student loan. As long as you\'ve got a first or 2:1 in maths or a rigorous science subject from a good university, you can apply."
Cameron, who took a first in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, will set out his thinking at a city academy school in London. Michael Gove, the shadow schools secretary who took a 2:1 at Oxford, has long campaigned for the Tories to raise standards in teacher training.
The decision to allow graduates who achieve a good degree in a "rigorous science subject from a good university" to apply to have their student loan written off shows that the Tories have no qualms in admitting that some universities are stronger than others. Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Tory chairman who is now chancellor of Oxford University, called over the weekend for a return to the old division between polytechnics and universities.
Patten told the Times that Britain should follow the example of the US, which has community colleges, state universities and the Ivy League. "We are trying to provide the same universities for everyone as the number of students increases," Patten said. "It\'s all about equality of esteem, all universities have to do the same thing. That\'s preposterous, insane."
Under the Tory plan, a panel would be set up to define "a good university". The pool would number in the "low dozens" and would be larger than the 20-strong Russell group of elite universities. Most former polytechnics would be excluded, although some with strong science courses, such as Derby University, could be included.
Cameron\'s speech will also focus on the Tories\' "Broken Society" theme of how drugs and family breakdown are leading to social dislocation. In an article for the Mail on Sunday , Cameron warned of a "darker side to parts of Britain" highlighted by the killing of Sukhwinder Singh , who tackled alleged muggers. The Tory leader pledged to help families by pressing ahead with his controversial plans to recognise marriage in the tax system and to increase the number of health visitors.
Labour will make clear that families will be at the centre of the election campaign with the launch this week of a green paper on the family. The party aims to enhance the role of young fathers by teaching them how to help their partners with breastfeeding and be more involved in the early years of their child.
Ed Balls, the family secretary, said on BBC1\'s The Politics Show: "I\'ve talked to the Royal College of Midwives and what they\'ve said is that we haven\'t done enough in the past to support dads and their role in childbirth in the months and weeks beforehand, even though we know this is the most vulnerable time for a couple. If dads aren\'t engaged and involved that can be the time when they walk away … This will mean, for 800,000 dads this year, when a child is born they will get information and support as well as the mother."
Gordon Brown will focus on social mobility when he announces that the government will endorse most of the proposals in a recent report by the former health secretary Alan Milburn , including giving students from lower income backgrounds greater opportunities to secure internships in the professions.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/[...]es-teaching-standards-prestige
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