HC Deb 01 November 1988 vol 139 c600W
Ms. Armstrong

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what proposals he has to make changes in teacher training, including the provision of extra funding, in the light of the findings of Her Majesty's inspectors' report "The New Teacher in School".

Mrs. Rumbold

The teachers covered by this survey undertook their training in the early to mid-1980s. In the meantime the Government established in 1984 tough new criteria for the approval of initial teacher training courses and set up the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education to scrutinise all courses and advise the Secretary of State on whether they satisfy those criteria. Over the period 1983 to 1988 HMI have also carried out inspections of all initial teacher training institutions. The report shows how right the Government were to take these steps. My right hon. Friend will shortly be considering what arrangements to put in place of the present course approval system when the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education reaches the end of its term of office at the end of 1989.

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