Post-grads given the third degree

25th May 2001, 1:00am

Share

Post-grads given the third degree

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/post-grads-given-third-degree
I write with regard to the article headlined “Students fight to get training salaries for all” (TES, April 20). I completed my postgraduate certificate the year before the salary came in and am destined to be paying off debts for some time. Elizabeth Kinsey, a BA teaching student, seems bitter about PGCE students receiving salaries, saying: “It does seem unfair when undergraduate students are doing the same length of training and show more commitment earlier to teaching.”

I disagree with her strongly. Many people (myself included) chose the PGCE option as a different route. Yet m desire to be a teacher goes back many years. I have no less passion for teaching but gained valuable work experience in my time away from education. I have always known what I wanted to do but chose to take a route giving me a more focused expertise in my degree subjects.

But perhaps it would be fairer if BEd students were funded in the fourth year of their training.

PGCE students do not necessarily take up teaching as a “back-up” or “safety net”. It is just a different route to the same ultimate goal.

Emma Hardy

24 Raymond Avenue

Canterbury, Kent


Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared