Teacher training to be part of Transition Training Fund
A £12 million fund to help people facing job losses in the declining oil and gas industry will be also used to train new teachers.
A £12 million fund to help people facing job losses in the declining oil and gas industry will be also used to train new teachers.
Scottish Education Secretary Angela Constance told the Aberdeen Learning Festival that this is the latest in a number of steps that the Scottish Government is taking in order to boost teacher numbers in places which can have difficulty attracting them.
To help people move into other roles in the oil and gas, energy or manufacturing industries, the Transition Training Fund, was set up, offering grants to support retraining or further education.
Working with Skills Development Scotland and the Energy Jobs Taskforce, the fund is now being developed in order to help oil and gas sector employees bring their well needed skills and expertise into teaching – particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.
Ms Constance said: “We have a highly skilled oil and gas workforce and it is important that we harness their abilities to benefit the next generation, the future of the industry and the north-east of Scotland.
“Developing options within the £12 million Transition Training Fund will help ensure we don’t lose valuable oil and gas sector skills, which can be put to excellent use and will lead to more high-quality, passionate teachers in the area.
“This is the latest in a range of actions we are taking to make sure we have the right teachers in the right places to benefit our young people.
“We have launched our #inspiringteachers campaign to encourage more people to enter the profession. We have increased student teacher intake targets for the fifth year in a row and are setting targets to train teachers in the subjects where they are needed most.
“We are also supporting innovative ways to encourage more graduates to come into teaching in areas which have difficulty recruiting teachers. This includes the University of Aberdeen’s distance learning initial teacher education programme, which allows council employees to retrain as teachers while staying in work. Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland and Angus Councils are already benefiting from this.”