War of words over education funding
Kelly says pot being used to plug gaps in teaching
A row has broken out over claims that funding meant for boosting pupils’ attainment is being used to plug teacher shortages in schools.
Fourteen Rutherglen and Cambuslang schools have used cash from their pupil equity fund (PEF) to help pay for teaching staff.
And the numbers are increasing, with 15.3 teachers in the area now being funded by the PEF, compared to 12.2 the previous year.
Labour MSP James Kelly, who obtained the figures through a freedom of information request, claims that the numbers show schools are using the PEF as “an emergency fund” to make up for teaching cuts.
This accusation has been furiously denied by the SNP, who accused Mr Kelly of “scaremongering nonsense”.
The pupil equity fund is allocated directly to schools and used at the discretion of the headteacher - to close povertyrelated attainment gaps.
The Glasgow list MSP argues that the money is being used incorrectly to plug gaps in teaching staff, rather than funding initiatives such as breakfast clubs.
Trinity High is the only secondary school in the area to use pupil equity funding to pay for a teacher, while various primary schools have spent the money this way.
Mr Kelly said: “Nicola Sturgeon once said that education was her top priority. This clearly isn’t the case when core teaching provision is being patched up by an attainment fund designed to be an additional source of money, not an emergency fund.
“This cash is meant to be used to close the attainment gap, not act as a sticking plaster for SNP cuts.
“Unfortunately Rutherglen and Cambuslang are being failed at every level of government, with the SNP, which runs South Lanarkshire Council, now accepting whatever cuts are passed down from their party colleagues in the Scottish Government.
“School teachers across Rutherglen and Cambuslang do a fantastic job day-in, day-out and deserve so much better than these Nationalist cuts.
“Head teachers should not be forced to use extra resources to staff our local schools.”
South Lanarkshire Council stressed that the decisions over funding lay with the head teachers at schools.
Stewart Nicolson, head of education, said: “Our schools are fully committed to raising standards in literacy and numeracy and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.
“Head teachers are using their pupil equity funding effectively, with some choosing to increase the number of teaching and support staff in their schools to provide a range of additional targeted activities, interventions and supports in order to achieve this.
“These include individualised and group programmes to support pupils with literacy and numeracy, as well as providing opportunities to promote pupil engagement and wellbeing.
“Whilst each school has its own plans and priorities, the aim is to ensure equity of opportunity for all pupils resulting in happier, healthier young people who are thriving and achieving.”
Rutherglen MSP Clare Haughey dismissed Mr Kelly’s claims that SNP cuts are to blame.
She said: “This is scaremongering nonsense from Mr Kelly and I am disappointed to see that he is calling into question the professional judgement of head teachers and hard-working school staff.
“While teacher recruitment is a matter for local authorities, the Scottish Government has taken a number of actions to help recruit and retain teachers, and widen the pool of available talent.
“The fact that teacher numbers have increased for the second year in a row shows that the action this SNP government is taking on teacher recruitment is working and Mr Kelly is wrong to state otherwise.
“South Lanarkshire Council has employed 32 new teachers and is recruiting 33 new school support assistants this year from the core education budget.
“Pupil equity funding is additional funding to be spent at the discretion of head-teachers working in partnership with each other and their local authority.
“The head teachers of Rutherglen, Cambuslang and South Lanarkshire are far more qualified to talk about their requirements than Mr Kelly.”
A spokesman for teachers’ union, EIS Scotland, said that the use of this funding can be legitimately used for extra teachers in schools.
However, he added: “It is important to note that PEF is meant to be additional resource, not a replacement for core funds.
“It would be unacceptable for any local authority to use PEF funding to employ teachers, while simultaneously reducing its core-funded teaching staff.
“The aim of PEF is to enhance education provision for pupils, not to enable councils to make stealth cuts to core education provision.”