Schools face crisis as 700 teaching jobs go unf illed for new term
SCOTLAND’S schools are in the grip of a staffing crisis, with new figures revealing almost 700 teaching posts are unfilled.
Teachers have warned the high number of vacancies has left schools struggling to cope only a fortnight after most pupils returned to lessons following the summer break.
Education Secretary John Swinney admitted yesterday there are ‘challenges’ in recruiting as he confirmed there are 690 teacher vacancies.
He pledged the Scottish Government and local authorities would ‘work hard’ to fill the posts, adding that councils – which are responsible for the day-to-day running of schools – expect the staff to be in place by the end of this term.
But last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘There are recruitment problems right across the board, and the SNP has been extremely slow to act. Its “boom and bust” approach to training has left pupils in the lurch.’
She added: ‘This is all going to leave a lasting negative impact both on the prospects of young people and the wellbeing of the Scottish economy.’
Mr Swinney spoke out as a campaign to recruit more teachers was expanded in an effort to encourage more English and Home Economics (HE) specialists into the classroom.
The Teaching Makes People initiative was initially set up to recruit more teachers in the key areas of science, technology, engineering and maths – the so-called STEM subjects. Mr Swinney said that ‘thousands’ more undergraduate students were considering a career in the classroom as a result of that project.
But he said: ‘There are quite clearly challenges in different parts of the country about recruitment of teachers and I want to make sure that we have a strong teaching profession available in every school in the country.
‘Of course 690 vacancies is an unwelcome figure around the country, but it represents 1.3 per cent of the total teaching complement in the country.
‘We’ve got to work very hard to make sure we fill these vacancies and I was pleased to hear Scotland’s local authorities say they expect to be able to fill these vacancies in the course of the school term.’
Councils facing some of the most acute shortages include those in the North-East such as Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray. Highland, Glasgow and Edinburgh also have high numbers of unfilled vacancies.
Earlier this month, Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union, said the figures were a clear cause of concern.
‘The situation highlights the need for a concerted effort to attract a greater number of qualified teachers into Scotland’s classrooms,’ he said. ‘If we are to ensure equity of provision across the country and address the poverty-related attainment gap then it is essential that our schools are fully staffed.’
Yesterday, Mr Swinney said: ‘In the specific areas of the STEM subjects, we have had some challenges in this area in the past, which is why last year I initiated the Teaching Makes People campaign.
‘We’ve seen an increase in the number of teachers in our schools in the last 12 months, there was 253 more teachers in our schools in the last teacher survey than there was the year before, so we’re seeing a rising number of teachers in our classrooms.’
He accepted that ‘some local authorities are facing challenges recruiting the right number of teachers for their classrooms’.
But he said: ‘That is why we are expanding our successful Teaching Makes People campaign which highlights the opportunity for a hugely rewarding and inspiring career with the chance to make a real difference in the lives of children and young people.
‘Thousands more undergraduate students are seriously considering teaching as a career as a direct result of the first phase of our campaign.’
The Scottish Government was aiming to ‘build on that momentum and reach even more people who may not have considered it as an option’, focusing on subjects such as STEM and English, he added.
‘Has left pupils in the lurch’