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– 17
J
colleges were affiliated to the university in a partnership of equals,
with the university validating college courses: this could also eventually
help to close the wide gap in status and career opportunities between
graduates and non-graduate teachers. Viewed from this angle, it is now
a moot point whether the colleges should continue to determine their own
standards: association with one or both of the universities would certainly
be in keeping with overseas systems of teacher education which have proved
generally beneficial to the students concerned, would provide opportunities
for the more able non-graduate teachers to improve their qualifications
(in some cases, perhaps, acquiring Bachelor of Education degrees), and -
an important consideration would facilitate a co-ordinated approach to
the planning of teacher supply which, as explained in paragraph 6.37 below,
is at present fragmented. At present, recruitment of staff for the
colleges (and for the Education Department's Advisory Inspectorate) is
virtually restricted to the government sector: in view of the planned
expansion of teacher education, however, the 1980 Green Faper has proposed
the broadening of the base of recruitment by opening the basic grade posts
to applicants from both within and outside the government sector simultaneously.
Colleges of education: initial training
6.21
The three general colleges of education now provide initial
training by means of two-year part-time In-Service Courses of Training for
Teachers (ICTT), available to eligible permitted teachers in day-release
and evening modes, as convenient, two-year full-time courses restricted to
students with appropriate Advanced Level qualifications (at present
available only in one college), and three-year full-time courses for
students with specified qualifications below this level. Standard ICTT
courses will be restructured and extended to three years with effect from
1981, a special two-year course being provided for approved post-secondary
college diploma holders (an arrangement designed to alleviate the