Keep international teachers in Britain - AoC backs new campaign

The Association of Colleges has thrown its weight behind an initiative geared to make it easier for non-EU teachers to get visas so they can work in schools. Launched this week, the campaign #LetThemTeach, initiated by the Times Education Supplement (Tes), calls for the whole teaching profession to be added to the Home Office’s ‘shortage occupation list’, which gives higher priority for visas. Currently, only maths, physics, computer science and Mandarin teachers are on the list. Yesterday in Tes, AoC referred to the fact that the campaign needs to include teachers throughout the education spectrum, not just those in schools as visa requirements are also complex for those teaching in colleges. David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said: “Great teachers transform lives so it is vital that colleges are able to attract and train the very best. This campaign is good news not only for our teaching staff but for our students, our communities and our economy. “But it helps to solve only part of the problem. We need to retain and properly reward great teachers, keeping them in the profession. A decade of cuts, disproportionately impacting colleges makes this tough - that is why we continue to press the government for fair funding for colleges. “The true beneficiaries will be the students who will receive the best training from a highly skilled college workforce.”