§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures are in place to replace supply teachers from Australia and New Zealand. [125130]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisThe Government welcome the contribution which teachers from Australia and New Zealand have made, particularly since the 1980s, and continue to make in English schools. However, they do not seek to replace teachers from particular countries who leave. Rather, we have introduced a range of measures to attract people into teaching, and to encourage those with Qualified Teacher Status who have spent time away from the profession to return. Since we announced £6,000 training salaries and £4,000 new-style "golden hellos" on 30 March, 1,119 more people have applied for postgraduate teacher training than in the same period last year. We are also introducing additional funding to help schools take people onto the Graduate Teacher 593W Programme. Alongside the improvements we are making to teachers' pay, school leadership and the support and continuing professional development available to teachers, these initiatives will make it much easier for schools to attract the number and quality of teachers they need and so reduce the need for supply teachers generally in the longer term.