Scottish mentor scheme scrapped

The Scottish Office Education Department has scrapped its controversial mentor scheme for student teachers less than three months after it was postponed until next year.

There has been hostility both from colleges of education and schools to the scheme, which would have extended school-based training by four weeks for students taking the one-year postgraduate course for secondary teachers. College of education staff feared that quality would be threatened by schools taking a greater role in training and assessment, and that the number of academic posts could be at risk.

Raymond Robertson, Scottish Office minister for education, said teaching unions and education authorities believed this was not the right time for such an initiative.

They were already facing a number of challenges, including preparatory work for Higher Still, the Scottish Office initiative merging academic and vocational education.

He has now asked the General Teaching Council for Scotland to report within six months on the scope for a national framework, which might eventually be incorporated in SOED guidelines for teacher training courses.