A new set of national teacher training standards have been set in Melbourne following the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs.

 

The reforms, aimed at increasing the quality of teacher education on a federal level, were established after Queensland set a 24 point education reform policy.

 

Under the new standards, students seeking enroll in teacher training will be required to have literacy and numeracy skills equivalent to those of the top 30 per cent of high school graduates.

 

Training institutions will be obliged to provide extra support for aspiring student teachers who do not meet these requirements so that they will have the required skills when they graduate.

 

The reforms have drawn praise from state governments, with South Australian Education Minister.

 

“Adoption of these new standards for the training of teachers is a major contributor to those goals.