First primary teachers graduate from new Highlands and Islands course

18 students are the first to graduate from the University of the Highlands and Islands’ professional graduate diploma in (primary) education.

The new qualification allows students to complete their training in the Highlands and Islands. Students who are fluent in Gaelic also have the option to complete the diploma through the medium of Gaelic and work in a Gaelic-medium primary school.

This first cohort has met the General Teaching Council for Scotland’s standard for provisional registration and can start their year as a probationary teacher in a Scottish primary school.

Professor Matthew MacIver, chair of the university court and former chief executive of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, who met the students at their last residential workshop in Inverness, said: “It was a great privilege to talk to this special group of new teachers because they represent another milestone for the University of the Highlands and Islands.  They are the first teachers who will graduate from the university since it became an accredited provider of initial teacher education in Scotland.

“This first step has huge significance for potential teachers throughout the Highlands and Islands who can now study for their PGDE qualification in their own home university. This is indeed a historic moment not just for the university but for the teaching profession in Scotland”.

The course is being delivered at Inverness College UHI, Moray College UHI, Orkney College UHI and Lews Castle College UHI in Stornoway.

Applications for August 2014 entry can be made through the Graduate Teacher Training Registry service. Candidates must have a relevant undergraduate degree as well as current experience of working with children.

Ian Minty, PGDE (primary) programme leader said: “From Orkney to Fort William and from Lewis to Elgin these 18 students will start their new careers in August and begin to impact in their local communities. It is a most exciting time for initial teacher education in the Highlands and Islands; and in the coming year our numbers will double to 40 students, including six who will be following the Gaelic pathway.”