London teacher shortage warning

London schools may struggle to employ enough teachers before the start of the new academic year, experts have warned, as the Government tightens up regulations on the recruitment of qualified education professionals.

A Government crackdown could mean that 11,000 overseas-trained teachers in the capital are unemployed by 31 August, Professor Peter Earley and Sara Bubb of the Institute of Education, London, have claimed.

Overseas-trained teachers who have been working for more than four years in the UK but have not obtained the necessary qualifications in this country will no longer be employable, the Government has said.

However, Professor Earley and Ms Bubb told a London Education Research Unit seminar that could mean there is a severe teacher shortage in the capital.

'It is good that the employment rules are being tightened because London children need fully qualified teachers. However, the short-term consequences are worrying, if pupils are without teachers,' they stated.

Meanwhile, the Teacher Support Network revealed that there has been an increase in the number of teachers who are struggling financially this year.