Scrap needing a ‘C’ or ‘4’ in GCSE subjects when you have a degree and want to teach
Scrap needing a ‘C’ or ‘4’ in GCSE subjects when you have a degree and want to teach
The Issue
The government need to remove barriers for those wanting to get into teaching. We currently have a shortage of people going into teaching because it is hard work and the pay does not reflect this. So why are we turning away ideal candidates when they are very much needed?
One of the main reasons people can’t go into teaching is the requirement to have a grade C or 4 as a minimum in maths and english. This is a requirement regardless of age, experience, ability, a degree etc.
As an adult with 14 years of experience working with children and young people, I am not able to do teacher training because I only achieved a grade D in my maths GCSE over 20 years ago.
Despite having 10 years working with children and a Level 3 childcare qualification. Years of volunteering in schools and youth work. A job currently in a secondary school, teaching the subject I have my degree in. I am still not allowed to start official teacher training and therefore not able to progress and be paid what I deserve because of it.
Once I have the maths qualification nothing will change for me on a personal level or within my teaching role as I teach religious studies. My life wont be any different for achieving it so why are we putting up ridiculous barriers and discouraging really good people who are good teachers. I feel let down by the fact that despite being a good citizen of our country, by wanting to help young people achieve and succeed, we are being faced with bureaucratic obstacles that are purely there as a tick box exercise and have no bearing on your a current ability.
We need good quality teachers and one way to get them is to scrap needing a grade C/4 in maths to teach certain subjects. For example, why do English teachers need maths? Religious studies teachers? History teachers? And so on. There should be set criteria for each subject - not a blanket approach.
I pose to you this…. If you need to prove you have a particular grade in a certain subject, why don’t you regularly test teachers to ensure they still meet that requirement? (The answer is because it’s not actually important).
32
The Issue
The government need to remove barriers for those wanting to get into teaching. We currently have a shortage of people going into teaching because it is hard work and the pay does not reflect this. So why are we turning away ideal candidates when they are very much needed?
One of the main reasons people can’t go into teaching is the requirement to have a grade C or 4 as a minimum in maths and english. This is a requirement regardless of age, experience, ability, a degree etc.
As an adult with 14 years of experience working with children and young people, I am not able to do teacher training because I only achieved a grade D in my maths GCSE over 20 years ago.
Despite having 10 years working with children and a Level 3 childcare qualification. Years of volunteering in schools and youth work. A job currently in a secondary school, teaching the subject I have my degree in. I am still not allowed to start official teacher training and therefore not able to progress and be paid what I deserve because of it.
Once I have the maths qualification nothing will change for me on a personal level or within my teaching role as I teach religious studies. My life wont be any different for achieving it so why are we putting up ridiculous barriers and discouraging really good people who are good teachers. I feel let down by the fact that despite being a good citizen of our country, by wanting to help young people achieve and succeed, we are being faced with bureaucratic obstacles that are purely there as a tick box exercise and have no bearing on your a current ability.
We need good quality teachers and one way to get them is to scrap needing a grade C/4 in maths to teach certain subjects. For example, why do English teachers need maths? Religious studies teachers? History teachers? And so on. There should be set criteria for each subject - not a blanket approach.
I pose to you this…. If you need to prove you have a particular grade in a certain subject, why don’t you regularly test teachers to ensure they still meet that requirement? (The answer is because it’s not actually important).
32
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Petition created on 25 July 2024