Slogans on beer mats to recruit trainee teachers

Advertising on bus tickets, beer mats and sandwich bags is the Government's latest weapon in a £7m campaign to recruit teaching graduates.

Advertising on bus tickets, beer mats and sandwich bags is the Government's latest weapon in a £7m campaign to recruit teaching graduates.

It will target them with the slogan "Those who can, teach", an attempt to counter the George Bernard Shaw quip that "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches". The advertisements include the slogans: "Can you lift spirits?" on beer mats; "Can you get your teeth into something more substantial?" on sandwich bags; "Can you keep people on the edge of their seats?" on cinema tickets; and "Can you find a better way to work?" on bus tickets.

Estelle Morris, School Standards minister, launched the campaign yesterday as figures showed acceptances to training courses were up 2 per cent for secondary school training and by 6 per cent overall. Final figures, due next month, are expected to show recruitment at the same level as last year but still far below national targets.

Ms Morris said £6,000 training salaries announced this year had prevented a potential 20 per cent drop in applications for training because of the buoyant labour market.

Teacher Training Agency (TTA) officials said previous campaigns had been successful but they had revamped their strategy to target groups most likely to move into teaching.

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "The Government remains complacent about the recruitment and retention crisis in teaching. It resorts to short-term palliatives instead of tackling the root causes of low recruitment.

"I hope the TTA's campaign has a positive effect but it is the Government which ought to be making the fundamental changes needed to achieve fully staffed schools."