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£1 million to support teacher learning.

Over £1 million has been made available to help teachers in Scotland move smoothly from lecture halls into the classroom.

The Scottish Government’s investment will help improve experiences for new teachers as they settle into jobs and follows Graham Donaldson’s review of teacher education report ‘Teaching Scotland’s Future’.

The funding will help create partnerships between local authorities and universities that will in turn enhance the quality of education provided to new teachers improve the support available to them and aid in the sharing of best practice across the profession.

Cabinet Secretary for Education Michael Russell said:

“The Scottish Government is committed to developing the best possible workforce in our schools and this funding will go a long way to helping teachers further their professional learning.

“Last month the OECD PISA results showed Scotland has made excellent progress in closing the attainment gap and is above the average of participating countries in maths, science and reading. These achievements would not be possible without the expertise, hard work and commitment of our teachers.

“Scotland has the lowest teacher unemployment rate in the UK and there are now more post-probationary teachers in full time employment than last year. We want to build on these successes and give as much support as possible to student teachers and newly qualified teachers so they can have the best possible start in their teaching careers.

“Establishing strong partnerships between universities and local authorities has been a priority in delivering these changes and supporting innovation.”

Professor Robert Davis, Chair of the Scottish Committee for Teacher Education (STEC) and Head of School of Education at the University of Glasgow said:

“STEC strongly welcomes this funding support from the Scottish Government. It will help build cohesive partnerships across Scotland that will impact positively on outcomes for children and young people. It will also allow partnerships to be tailored to local circumstances and be innovative in their approaches.”