Teacher training reversal welcome but will they deliver?

The Coalition welcomes the Gillard Government’s reversal on teacher training announced today, said the Shadow Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne.

“For almost a year, the Coalition has been calling on the Labor Government to improve the quality of education that new teachers receive,” Mr Pyne said.

Last year the Coalition announced that it would investigate the most effective way to ensure that the requirements of teacher training remained focussed on the practical skills that new teachers need to succeed in the classroom.

The Coalition also called on the Government to work with universities to improve practicum arrangements and to work with the States, non-government sector and universities to increase the level of ongoing mentoring and professional development provided to recent graduates in teaching.

“The Gillard Government’s announcement is a welcome embrace of part of the Coalition’s policies,” Mr Pyne said.

“While the Coalition supports the new measures, I have reservations about Labor’s capacity to deliver these reforms after five and a half years of mismanagement in the education portfolio,” Mr Pyne said.

11 March 2013