§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to improve the status of teachers. [48165]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe support of well-motivated and talented teachers is central to our drive to raise standards in schools. We must, and do, take every opportunity to acknowledge the professionalism of good teachers and the contribution they make to schools.
The measures we set out in our January response to the Select Committee report on teacher supply will raise the status of teachers: the General Teaching Council will provide a unified voice for the profession; and new curricula for initial teacher training courses, national professional standards, a mandatory induction year, and a new grade of Advanced Skills Teachers will enhance professionalism.
The Teacher Training Agency's campaign, No-one Forgets a Good Teacher, aims to raise public awareness of the vital contribution that teachers make to the continued prosperity and success of the nation. Since the launch of the campaign, the TTA's inquiry line has received some 76,000 calls, an average of 2,066 a week. 683W The National Teaching Awards, which were launched last month under the Chairmanship of The Lord Puttnam, will also help raise the status of teaching.