Labour pledges to beef up teaching standards in further education colleges
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Labour today pledged to beef up teaching standards in the nation's further education colleges as part of a drive to improve numeracy and literacy standards.
Under a future Labour government, all teachers in colleges will have to have at least the equivalent of A* to C grade passes in English and maths at GCSE.
A policy paper published today acknowledged that more than half the nation's pupils had failed to achieve top grade passes at GCSE in the two subjects by the time they reached the school leaving age of 16. Only a handful more went on to obtain them by 18.
It acknowledges "traditional teaching of these subjects in a school setting does not get the best results out of many young people".
Instead, they needed to be taught in the more vocational setting of a further education college and in the context of preparing them for the world of work.
"This will require more teachers based in colleges who possess the skills and qualifications to teach English and maths to GCSE level and beyond."
The paper adds: "Currently, too many young people are pushed down an education route that isn't right for them simply because a clear, quality vocational option was not on offer."
The policy was welcomed by the main lecturers' union, the University and College Union, but it warned against attacking teachers when criticising the Coalition Government's record on education.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments