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Media and Broadcasting Technology
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures he is taking to support the development of skills in media and broadcasting technology among people of school age. [140181]
Jacqui Smith: The National Curriculum enables pupils from an early age to develop the skills needed to access and judge information from a variety of sources, including television and the media. There are many opportunities for pupils to develop technological skills, particularly within Information and Communications Technology and Design and Technology.
With our encouragement, the British Film Institute has worked with a range of partners, including teachers, to produce an excellent guide 'Moving Images in the classroom' for secondary schools. It offers a range of practical activities to develop pupils' skills in many different subjects including, for example, using video and software editing in Music and using a video or ICT to produce a foreign language voice-over for a news item.
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GCSEs in Media Studies are now taken by some 25,000 pupils each year. Vocational GCSEs will extend these opportunities to greater numbers of young people.
Teaching Vacancies
Mr. Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to fill teaching vacancies in England; and if he will make a statement. [140287]
Ms Estelle Morris: As a result of the Government's policies, more teachers are now working in English schools than for a decade. A sample survey undertaken by my Department in September suggested that the national teacher vacancy rate remained below 1 per cent. the same as in January. However, we recognise that there is difficulty in some subjects and in some parts of the country, and that more needs to be done if schools are to be able to recruit all of the staff that they need.
That is why current plans provide for over £0.5 billion to be spent on teacher recruitment between this year and 2003-04. The £6,000 training salaries for postgraduates and enhanced Golden Hellos for shortage subject teachers announced on 30 March have led to the first rise in the number of people registering for teacher training since 1992-93. 2,000 more teachers have applied this last year. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has also announced funding to more than double the number of employment-based graduate trainees working in schools in 2000-01. In addition to a £4,000 grant to cover training costs, £13,000 in a full year is being paid to schools from 1 September in respect of each of these trainees in order to allow them to be employed as supernumeraries. A special assistance package for teacher recruitment in London was also announced in August.
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