Finding more teachers

Press, 31 May 1985, Page 16

Finding more teachers

The Government has taken the first steps towards the improvement of teacher-pupil ratios in primary and secondary schools that it promised in last year’s election campaign. Approval has been given for 500 new primary teaching positions, 200 of which will be created this year and 300 in the first term next year. The Government has decided also to boost secondary school staff numbers next year by the equivalent of 405 extra teachers. The combined cost of these measures is $21.5 million, although this will not be the recurring annual cost in salaries and equipment; some of the money will be needed for a campaign to recruit new teachers and attract former teachers back to the profession. This might prove a stumbling block between the Government’s intention and reduced pupil-teacher ratios. It seems that there is no clear understanding of how many qualified teachers there are in the community who are not in work at present. It is by no means certain, for instance, that all the primary positions can be filled as quickly as the Government intends. Many of the 500 new posts will be filled by teachers now in relieving positions, and these relieving posts will need to be filled as a result. Some education boards are already having problems finding relieving teachers. Ultimately, 2000 or more new primary

teachers will be needed to implement the 1:20 staffing ratio in junior schools that Labour

promised would be achieved in its first three years as the Government. The task, equivalent to finding one new primary teacher for every nine already employed, will not be easy. The Minister of Education, Mr Marshall, has said that the first 200 teachers will be drawn from a pool of teachers now without work. If this can be done, the education system will retain the skills of trained teachers it can ill afford to lose, always provided that teachers are prepared to go where they are needed, rather than insist on being given work in the places they want to live. Equally important is the need to appoint good teachers. A large class of pupils under one good teacher is likely to prosper more than smaller classes under indifferent teachers. On balance, the average teacher will probably do a better job when teaching smaller classes. The chances are that few teachers of the highest quality are out of work. The practical problems of finding the teachers to fill the jobs notwithstanding, the announcements will be welcomed as a significant step towards improving the quality of education. The education system can get by, and has got by, with large classes, but no-one can pretend that this is a desirable option. It also makes sense at a time of high unemployment to create jobs — if jobs must be created — with an eye to an investment in the future. Better education now promises to return the investment many times over in years to come.