It's time that the government - and society as a whole - stopped thinking that qualifications make for good teachers and medics, etc. Often, the best teachers are those who have struggled most to understand the subject they teach because they appreciate the problems that learners face. Rather than requiring teachers to have a particular level of academic achievement before being allowed to start teaching, perhaps the academic qualification should be introduced AFTER someone has proved that they have the aptitude to teach and enthuse pupils.
Tidying my study later yesterday, I came across an Education Guardian from 24th Nov '09, which had as it opening article "Keeping nursing students on course - How will universities train enough nurses to degree level when the drop-out rate for such courses is can be as high as 78%?".
As a teacher who trained in the 1970's I know of plenty of fellow students who did the requisite 1-year as a probationary teacher, but who then bailed out of the profession within a further year or two. Is this really sensible use of funds?
