Fast-track plan to turn jobless into teachers

People who lose their jobs in the recession will be given the chance to become teachers in just six months under a fast-track route to the classroom to be unveiled today.

Teacher-training courses will be cut from a year to six months from September as the Government encourages "high-calibre" people to change profession midway through their career. The scheme will also be open to graduates; many of the 400,000 students who leave university this summer will be looking to the public sector rather than the City or the law.

From next year, some 200 high-flying teachers will be picked out each year for a fast-track promotion under which they could become headteachers within just four years.

http://www.independent.co.uk/