Connex Education has launched a new, trainee teacher programme to tackle the teacher recruitment crisis head-on.
The leading education staffing company has partnered with a top TEF university to deliver a two year fully funded and salaried programme that takes graduate trainee teachers with no classroom experience through to an award of a Post Graduate Degree in Education with qualified teacher status (PGCE with QTS).
Speaking about the programme, Connex Education CEO Paul Broderick said,
there are around 28,000 new entrants to initial teacher education (ITE) each year and this simply isn’t enough compared to those leaving the profession. Almost 80% of these routes to the classroom are on a volunteer/student basis, meaning so many potential new entrants to the teaching profession are put off by the loss in earnings, increased debt burden or the prospect of finding tuition fees during extended study.
Broderick continued, “in consultation with our client schools it was agreed that more needed to be done to increase the attractiveness of initial teacher education. So we decided to take the best parts of the already successful School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) and add them to an employment-based proposition. Put simply, we employ the trainee teacher, provide them with a fully immersive school environment for two years and pay their tuition fees. They don’t have to worry about anything else other than becoming a first-class teacher!”
The programme comes at a time when the teacher recruitment crisis continues. According to figures from the ITT Census last year, secondary schools have missed targets for some subjects by more than 30% and only PE and History recruitment met their targets for the year.
Director Chris Foster said, “For schools, there are numerous benefits, not only can they grow their next generation of teachers that will match the school ethos but they are helping improve their recruitment and retention with skilled trainee teachers at a time when it is crucial to do so.”
More information about Connex Education’s Employment-Based SCITT can be found HERE.
