By Gavin Mackintosh-
The second round of the Taking Teaching Further (TTF) programme opened yesterday, Wednesday, inviting bids from colleges and post-16 providers to attract industry professionals to teach in further education.
The scheme comprises a central part of the British Government’s wider investment in the further education sector as it prepares to introduce the first gold standard T Level qualifications from 2020 – high-quality technical courses equivalent to A levels.
The national initiative to boost the quality of teaching in the Uk is designed to attract experienced industry professionals with expert technical knowledge and skills to work in Further Education. It hopes to extend the diversity of skills from varied industries into the teaching profession in order to motivate and nurture the skills of young people in a way that will raise the standard of education in British schools.
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Educational standards in Uk primary and secondary schools has been steadily rising in the past few years, but the Department of Education knows there is still a fair way to go to get it to the right level where the prospects of most young people are maximised. It aims to stimulate academic initiatives and expand collaboration across several industries.
Funded by the Department of Education, the initiative is managed on its behalf of the Education and Training Foundation who have also played a key role in the programme’s development. It was launched in June 2018 and during 2018/19. There are two rounds of funding. The first round successfully funded 37 colleges across two strands. The second round which is now open has been extended to February 15th.
T Levels is largely unknown in the Uk, and relatively new. It aims to provide young people with the cutting-edge skills and experience they need to secure a good job or progress into further training.
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Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills Anne Milton, said:
”We are transforming technical education in this country with the introduction of new T Levels from 2020, so more young people have access to high quality qualifications which include high-quality training opportunities with a clear path to skilled jobs.
The Taking Teaching Further programme will help attract talented and inspiring people with industry expertise to teach in the further education sector. These are the teachers who can inspire, energise and bring on the next generation of highly-skilled young people.
I’m delighted the second round has begun and I would urge colleges and post-16 providers to apply and take advantage of this.The first round of the £5 million scheme was launched in June to enhance the quality of the post-16 teaching workforce by bringing in more people with diverse experiences so students gain the skills and knowledge that employers demand. The 37 successful providers, who will support 80 industry professional to retrain to work as teachers in their institutions, were announced in October.
PROGRESS
Good progress is being made to recruit and appoint these new teachers. This includes Buckinghamshire College Group, who have already recruited five teachers through the programme in priority areas such as Digital, Maths, and Childcare. More appointments are expected to be made by first round providers in the new year:
Paula Kavanagh, Senior Lead at Buckinghamshire College Group said:
‘The trainee teachers taking part in this project are benefitting enormously from the support they’re receiving from experienced teachers within Buckinghamshire College Group. However, this is a two-way street and the College recognises and appreciates the value of recruiting industry professionals from these hard to recruit areas. > This has enabled a professional exchange between trainee and teacher which is reciprocal and benefits everyone, not least the students.
The first application round is also funding 20 innovative projects to explore how industry and the further education sector can work together to make sure students gain the knowledge and skills businesses really need.
TTF has been designed with the Association of Colleges, and the Education and Training Foundation who are also delivering the programme on our behalf to create further links between the education sector and industry.
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