Ben Bradley MP for Mansfield and Warsop has welcomed the announcement that the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and the Department for Education are to work together on new initiatives designed to encourage more players to pursue careers in teaching.
The PFA is the union for professional footballers in England, representing players from the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and Women’s Super League (WSL). The union offers a wide range of support and services to members such as grants for members to retrain as teachers.
Representatives from the PFA met with the Minister for Schools, the Rt Hon Nick Gibbs MP, in a meeting secured and led by Justin Tomlinson and Ben Bradley, the MPs for North Swindon and Mansfield.
This collaboration comes after Ben called for an opening up of teaching avenues during a debate in Westminster Hall. During this debate, Ben stressed the need for a diverse teaching faculty made up of differing experiences and backgrounds. This widening of experiences within the teaching profession could be achieved by opening up non-traditional avenues into teaching, such as through the PFA, and Ben stated this could ‘open up a whole world of new opportunities, and also improve recruitment and retention in the sector.’
Ben Bradley stated:
‘It is really welcome to see the Department for Education working closely with the PFA on new avenues for former pros to become teachers.’
‘I have long called for an opening up of the teaching profession to people who may not have come through the traditional route, including in a recent debate in Westminster Hall. Doing this would allow for a diversity of views and experiences to be represented in our education system, helping the development of the next generation.’
‘The life experiences that many of these former footballers have will undoubtedly help in this endeavour, including in getting more positive male role models into our schools, something I have also been campaigning on for a long time. As such I really welcome this initiative from the PFA and the DfE to encourage former footballers into the teaching profession. I look forward to seeing the programme progress and getting more teachers into our schools.’
