From Linda Burton
Sir, - Your report (News, 29
November) about the allocation and funding of teacher-training
places in RE gives some idea of the very mixed provision across the
country, and indicates that overall there is an increase in numbers
for next year.
This overall increase, however, hides some very worrying
regional variations: while Edge Hill and Cumbria have received
allocations of 20 places each, the university-based courses at both
Durham and Newcastle have received zero allocations, thus closing
the courses.
No rationale has been given for these changes, but they cannot
have been based on quality judgements, since the course at Durham
received an Outstanding grade from OFSTED only last April.
The closure of the RE PGCE secondary course at Durham brings to
an end a tradition of teacher-training in RE dating back to the
founding of the College of the Venerable Bede in 1838.
That this decision should have been made without consultation,
explanation, or warning seems particularly hard to understand and
accept. Many in the north-east are devastated to see the end of
high-quality teacher-training in RE, and are worried about the
implications for the next generation of north-east
schoolchildren.
LINDA BURTON (Lay Canon)
RE PGCE Course Leader, Durham University; Chair of Durham
SACRE
School of Education, Leazes Road
Durham DH1 1TA