CYP Now - In the news - An alternative take on the week's media

Would newly unemployed city bankers make good teachers? This was the question that occupied many writing about a new fast-track training scheme announced by the government, which would mean new recruits could qualify in six months. City high flyers were among those that ministers appeared keen to attract.

Ross Brewster, columnist for the Carlisle News & Star, summed up what a lot of people were saying. "Would you trust a failed financier with your child's maths?" he asked. "Some of the fat cats might be able to instruct the nation's young in the art of losing billions while coming up smelling of roses. But they are the last people to hold up as role models."

Never mind the bankers. Is six months long enough for anyone to get into teaching? Not really, said Nansi Ellis, head of education policy and research at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. "The success of this programme will be measured by the numbers who continue to teach and improve," she wrote on The Guardian's Mortarboard blog. "Otherwise, this is a costly exercise in demoralising the teaching profession."

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