Part-time training option for Skills for Life staff

Prospective Skills for Life teachers are to be given the opportunity to train part-time prior to taking up a job (LLUK).

Several pilot training programme modules that can be delivered to would-be teachers on a pre-service basis should be available from September.

Paul Hambley, Skills for Life manager at Lifelong Learning UK, says some individuals find it hard to get into the profession even though many FE colleges are acutely short of Skills for Life staff - especially in numeracy.

“People require teacher training but there are hardly any subject-specific pre-service courses before you get a job. There is no easy way in and those there are require full time attendance” he says.

The new programme would suit people without teaching experience along with former staff who wish to return to the profession and focus on Skills for Life, which also include literacy and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). “During the first part of the programme, they could keep their day job and find out whether they really want a switch in career,” he adds.

Inactive teachers would probably be offered accelerated training so they could start to teach Skills for Life programmes sooner – and this would better recognise their previous training and experience.

LLUK is concerned that many people wishing to teach Skills for Life are put off by what they see as poor career prospects, while many staff who complete their training move on after a short time. “It is vital to give teachers a proper career structure that encourages them to work in this important area,” says Paul Hambley.

LLUK is looking at how incentives might be used to engage and support Skills for Life teachers as well as to encourage teacher training providers to develop more flexible opportunities. New efforts will be made to attract staff from a wider range of backgrounds.

The new training routes will be outlined to employers and to human resources and staff development managers at a series of consultation events, starting in Taunton on 6 July. They continue in Birmingham (7 ), London (13) and York (14 July).

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