STEM Teachers Disadvantaged Areas 2022-07-04
2022-07-04
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Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
The question arises from the need to improve educational opportunities and teacher distribution in less privileged regions.
What steps is his Department taking to attract science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teachers to disadvantaged areas?
From this autumn, the levelling-up premium will provide early career teachers in maths, physics, chemistry and computing with a bonus of up to £3,000 tax-free annually if they teach disadvantaged children in disadvantaged schools. That is in addition to tax-free bursaries worth £24,000 and tax-free scholarships worth £26,000.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Direct Answer
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Context
This question follows up on the initial query regarding measures to attract STEM teachers and enquires about a separate initiative focused on maths education.
I welcome this package; it is the right thing to do to try to get high-quality teachers into disadvantaged schools. I also support the specialist maths schools agenda, which ensuring that aim in a different way. Will the Secretary of State update the House on its progress?
We have three great specialist maths schools, with some of the best A-level results nationally. We are on track to have 10 regional maths schools by 2025, including one in Surrey.
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Assessment & feedback
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Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
This supplementary question addresses the broader role of higher education institutions and their relevance to regional development and educational policy.
Does the Secretary of State agree that partnerships with local and regional universities are necessary to deliver STEM provision? Does it disturb him that some universities want to go back to teaching only science and engineering, excluding arts and humanities?
Universities, including the Open University, will play a key role. The collaboration between further education and higher education in our institutes of technology is equally important to ensure that we produce different runways from which young people's careers can take off.
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Assessment & feedback
The specific view on university partnerships and their focus areas was not directly addressed, focusing instead on the broader role of education collaboration.
Response accuracy