Hidden Costs Campaign For Trainee Teachers

EDM number 1570 in 2006-07, proposed by Paul Farrelly on 24/05/2007.

That this House notes the National Union of Students' and the National Union of Teachers' Hidden Costs Campaign, which aims to highlight the hidden costs of doing a teacher training course while creating, defending and extending the budgets in institutions to cover travel, equipment and classroom resources; notes that teacher training students are asked to spend their own money on travel to their placements, equipment like laboratory coats, and school resources like books and toys; believes that this expenditure is essential to the course; further believes that this additional cost burden on students is a barrier to participation and impacts most on those who can least afford it, at a time when the country needs more teachers; and calls on the Government, the Department for Education and Skills and the Training and Development Agency for Schools and higher education institutions to review the practice of charging teacher training students for essential travel, equipment and classroom resources.

This motion has been signed by a total of 65 MPs.