Press Release

PAT welcomes numeracy review

15 May 2007

The Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) has welcomed the numeracy strategy review to be announced by Gordon Brown today (15 May 2007).

PAT General Secretary Philip Parkin said: "There has rightly been a great emphasis on raising standards of literacy so we welcome a new focus on numeracy.

“PAT welcomes Mr Brown’s reported willingness to work with the teaching profession to raise standards and to find the extra funds needed to implement these plans.

“One-to-one tuition has already been proposed in schemes such as Making Good Progress, but would be of great benefit to pupils who need extra help, and could also create a more level playing field between state and private education.

"However, the Government needs to think carefully about how such ideas would work in practice. It will be interesting to see how, at a time of teacher shortages in some areas of the country, the extra teachers will be recruited. The provision of extra tuition  must not increase the already heavy workload of the existing workforce. 

“Giving a greater role to specialist mentors is a good idea in principle but in practice they will need to be trained, vetted and their performance monitored to make sure they are working to a good standard and in accordance with the teaching programme delivered by the pupil’s school.

"While Mr Brown wishes to move the education debate on, issues concerning school structures will not go away and remain a concern.”