I WAS pleased, but not surprised, that the General Teaching Council sees the induction year as a “success” (TES, November 8). So I was both surprised and very concerned that the Department for Education and Skills has decided to end four major Standards Fund grants, including 501 (induction of newly-qualified teachers), 101b (school improvement grant), 201 (school inclusion: pupil support), and 507 (performance management and threshold assessment).
These grants will cease from April 2003 as a “contribution to the reduction of specific grant funding”, according to the DfES letter of October 23.
It is almost inexplicable that the DfES can say that these activities (teacher induction, school improvement, social inclusion and performance management) are not of the highest priority. So hard-pressed councils will need to make provision for these activities from within already-stretched main budgets.
John Freeman
Director of education and lifelong learning
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
