Labour MP urges action to tackle teacher shortages

The Government was criticised by an influential backbench Labour MP on Tuesday over the prospect of teacher shortages in the new school year.

Barry Sheerman, chairman of the Commons Select Committee on Education, was speaking after Mike Tomlinson, chief inspector of schools, said on Tuesday that teacher shortages were worse than at any time since he entered the profession in 1965, with four out of ten trainees quitting the profession within three years of entering the classroom.

Mr Sheerman told Today on BBC Radio 4: "The Government has to start talking to teachers directly, not talking past them, to take these teacher concerns on and very seriously look at this drop-out in the early years."

Later, speaking to The Independent, he held out the prospect of a joint investigation into shortages in the public sector with the Health and Home Affairs select committees.

"The Government talks about how they feel they have done rather well by the teachers in terms of incentives and pay ­ yet you go to a teachers' conference and you'll find teachers still feel that the Government doesn't give them enough esteem and respect. We need to know the reasons why so many young teachers drop out. Are those that drop out from tough inner-city schools? Are they in maths and science subjects, where they will be better rewarded elsewhere?"

He also wanted to see teachers' union leaders "engage in a more constructive dialogue" with ministers.

Mr Tomlinson said the shortages could lead to "the possibility of schools having insufficient staff and having to make decisions about whether or not they can continue the curriculum as it is currently envisaged, and the worst-case scenario is that some children might not be taught".

He told the Today programme that teachers did not feel they were being given credit for the rise in school standards. "The considerable demand in terms of workload and paperwork bothers them and I think it is the behaviour of some children which makes their job very, very difficult and at times impossible."

Meanwhile, one of the largest private teaching agencies revealed that more than 1,300 teachers had registered with it to take on supply work rather than do a full-time job. Bob Wicks, chief executive of Select Education plc, said: "Supply or contract teaching has become a preferred option for many teachers, who appreciate the flexibility and variety it offers. We estimate that more than 40,000 teachers, over 10 per cent of the total teacher base, are now working in supply roles."

Stephen Timms, the School Standards minister, admitted that increased teacher workload was a "serious concern". He said that the number of teachers leaving the profession early on "has been pretty stable over the last 10 years".

Figures issued by the Department for Education and Skills took issue with Mr Tomlinson's claims that 40 per cent of young teachers had left after no more than three years in the profession. The department's figures indicated that the rate was one in four, including those who left to start a family and might return to the profession. Mr Timms said there were 12,000 more teachers in employment than there had been in 1998.

¿ Universities were asked yesterday to prepare bids for the running of an Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth. The Government aims to develop the most academically able pupils aged 11 to 16 by piloting intensive three-week residential summer schools in 2003.