Miliband announces Royal College of Teaching plan to “raise standards in teaching”

On a visit to Langdon Park Community Sports College in London this afternoon, Ed Miliband and Stephen Twigg will announce plans for a Royal College of teaching to “raise standards in teaching and the status of teaching”. A review will be led by Dame Joan McVittie, head of Woodside High School and former president of the Association of School and College Leaders.

Miliband will be making the following arguments:

• Teachers should have the right training and expertise, if you teach Maths you should have a Maths degree or a relevant qualification approved by the RCoT. Over 7500 Maths teachers don’t have a Maths degree – in future Labour wants teachers to have higher level qualifications in the subjects they teach.
• Teachers should update their knowledge – they should not stop learning once in the job. The CBI questions if Computer Science teachers have the knowledge to teach a modern computing curriculum.
• Teachers should be free to teach the 21st century skills we know young people need. They shouldn’t be kicked around as a political football.

Miliband will also criticise Michael Gove for allowing unqualified teachers into schools and presiding over a growing teacher shortage.