Teachers: Equality

(asked on 19th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the diversity of the teaching workforce.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 29th June 2020

In October 2018, the Department set out its commitment to increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce across all protected characteristics - including race - when it launched the Statement of Intent. This commitment to increasing teacher diversity was made alongside ten co-signatories from the sector (including unions and grassroots organisations, such as BAMEed, WomenEd, LGBTed and Disability Ed) who set out their own individual activities.

The Department has been making progress against its commitments including:

  • Providing £2 million of funding in nationwide Equality and Diversity regional ‘hubs’ to support aspiring leaders, including those from ethnic minority backgrounds, into headship;
  • Reflecting the importance of diversity in the Department’s Recruitment and Retention Strategy published in January 2019;
  • Continuing to engage with our signatories. In July 2019, we held a roundtable to gather progress updates and showcase best practice;
  • Encouraging representative recruitment for National Professional Qualifications for school leadership through key performance indicators.

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