§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what action his Department has taken to encourage people from ethnic communities to enter the teaching profession; and if he will make a statement. [90357]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe Teacher Training Agency (TTA) published a new Corporate Plan for 1999–2002 on 6 July. This makes promoting the recruitment of teachers the Agency's top priority. The Plan includes an aim to increase the recruitment of members of ethnic minorities to initial teacher training (ITT) from the present 6 per cent. to 9 per cent.
The Agency has also persuaded the vast majority of providers to introduce an additional voluntary target for recruitment from the ethnic minorities. The average voluntary target for all primary and secondary ITT providers is 7 per cent. The TTA also allocates additional places to ITT providers if they achieve exceptional recruitment of ethnic minority trainees.