Scottish teacher training faces rejig

Scottish teacher training courses could face "radical change" in the wake of a review launched this week by the Scottish Executive.

The review aims to ensure that new teachers are better prepared for the classroom, as well as boost the number of mature students going into the profession.

It will investigate issues such as classroom discipline and whether there should be more part-time and distance-learning courses.

Scottish education minister Peter Peacock said: "A great deal of reform has taken place in the teaching profession during recent years, but we must also concentrate on the crucial period of initial teacher education."

The review team, which will produce an interim report by Christmas, has three university representatives among its 13 members: James Calderhead, vice-principal of Dundee University, and Pamela Munn and Hirek Kwiatkowski, education deans at Edinburgh and Glasgow universities.