§ 12. Mr. Win GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what steps he is taking to ensure that there will be sufficient teachers qualified in all the necessary subjects to teach the national curriculum in its further stages from September 1990.
§ Mr. MacGregorI am taking the requirements of the national curriculum fully into account in setting the intakes to initial teacher training, in revising the criteria for initial teacher training courses, in planning the LEA 14 in-service training grant scheme and education support grants and in managing the action programme on teacher supply.
§ Mr. GriffithsI thank the Minister for that reply. Will he acknowledge that the secondary school staffing survey which has just been published shows that in 15 out of the 25 subject categories there are fewer teachers now with post-A level qualifications than there were in May 1984? Is the right hon. Gentleman further aware that an HMI survey for May of this year showed that 28 per cent. of English teachers and 27 per cent. of maths teachers did not have a post-A level qualification and that those entering teacher training now, in key subjects such as maths and English, are not up to the targets being set by his Department? Would he like his children to be taught by non-qualified teachers?
§ Mr. MacGregorThe answer to the last part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question is that a recent HMI survey on science in primary schools demonstrates that in primary schools, teachers without the specialist back-ground can, with proper training, perform the role very effectively. I can of course deal now with only one or two of the points that the hon. Gentleman raised. There is a problem, which is shared by all employers, in relation to certain scarce skills where there exists in the economy as a whole a high demand. This is particularly so in maths and science. We are producing a flexible range of policies to deal with that, both in recruitment and in the way in which teachers are paid.