Sending 'elite' teachers to seaside schools... is the best Tory education policy yet

But more must be done to restore prestige to the profession as a whole

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A few years ago I worked as a secondary school English teacher in Croydon. On day one, as I waited in the staffroom – wetting myself, naturally – the headmaster came in and gave his new teachers some memorable words of encouragement. I paraphrase here, but the general sentiment was along the lines of: “never forget that for all the new gym equipment, the interactive whiteboards, and the state-of the-art technology, the greatest resource any school has to offer is its teachers”.

He was right. The myth of digital learning has been proved a con. Speak to any teacher these days and they’ll tell you we need less iPads in schools, not more – and that, more than anything, an outright ban on phones in schools would be the quickest route to better discipline and concentration in schools. But the second part of my old headmaster’s statement also remains true. Teachers make schools. And if that easy platitude needs any justification it can be found in the phenomenal success of the Teach First programme. Back in 2001 McKinsey consultant Brett Wigdortz recruited top graduates, offered them six weeks of teaching training, and then put them to straight to work in the country’s worst performing schools. In return graduates were given mentoring, support and better than average starting salaries. In short, new teachers were offered that rarest of accolades in the world of pedagogy: prestige.

And now – incredibly, sensibly, unprecedentedly – Nicky Morgan has nicked the idea. The Education Secretary plans to recruit 1,500 “elite” teachers and pack them off to some of our struggling schools – many of which are located in poor coastal towns. In return for their two-year secondments, teachers will be offered more money, help getting a home, and the incentive of a boost up the career ladder to follow. The scheme has Teach First written all over it.

Now, speaking as an ex-teacher, this seems to me the only Conservative education policy proposed in the past five years to make any sense. One of the reasons Teach First is now ranked second on the list of the Times top 100 graduate employers is due to its massive growth. More than 9,000 now apply, and the tough institutions that formerly struggled to attract good applicants now have more hungry young grads at the school-gates than they can handle. A few drop out, but for the most part the scheme is hugely successful – 63% stay for at least three years, and the majority stick with education. Crucially, Teach First made the idea of teaching in difficult conditions attractive, and lionised those willing to take on the challenge.

The key is restoring value to the profession. Singapore, Finland and South Korea now have the best performing education systems in the world; the UK does not. The reason, put simply, is that they have re-professionalised teaching as an occupation. In the past decade all three invested in taking teachers seriously: offering to pay university fees of prospective teachers, plus living stipends to those who wish to train. That is currently an unthinkable idea within these shores. But it clearly explains why the UK is facing teacher shortages, while teaching positions in Asia and Scandanavia are vastly oversubscribed.

Morgan’s scheme to reward teachers willing to head to Britain’s less salubrious seasides deserves praise. Let’s give the Education Secretary a gold star and a biscuit for now. But the policy is but a drop in the ocean compared with the education reform needed to get Britain truly up to speed with its competitors. The government must copy the homework not only of Teach First, but also its neighbours in far-flung Finland and Singapore. That mean more attractive starting salaries for those not just sent to the seaside, and an assurance that teachers are able to progress quicker up the pay-scale, and into more senior positions.

For too long under Michael Gove’s tenure did UK teachers feel – rightly – devalued, de-incentivised, degraded. Morgan’s move to reward teachers willing to exit their comfort zones and teach on the front line marks the first investment in teachers for years. As south Asian and Scandinavian countries have shown, motivating teachers is the quickest way to a wider advance in school standards. Term report card for Ms Morgan? Has potential but must try harder.