Stats show decline in teacher posts

Numbers drop but assistant roles are on the up

Teacher numbers have fallen by more than 60 in the past four years in Perth and Kinross, it has been revealed.

Research also shows that those in jobs as classroom assistants have leapt by 100 over the same period.

As of June 2017 there were 1102 full-time equivalent teachers (FTE) in post in the region, a drop of four from 2016, and 40 when compared to 2015. In 2013 there were 1163 teachers. The education snapshot also shows that there were 11.1 primary school vacancies and 23.34 secondary school posts with no staff in August 2016, at the start of the last school year.

This is broadly in line with the year before when there were 33.4 FTE vacancies.

Perth and Kinross Council is currently advertising 19 vacant teaching posts both full and part-time – three of them primary school heads.

The freedom of information request was made in an effort to provide a picture of current arrangements at council-run schools, ahead of what are expected to be sweeping changes to schools and education provision in the coming years.

With pressure on budgets as well as shifting populations, council officials are reviewing current arrangements at schools, with the potential that some sites may close in future years.

Schools are also being assessed for their ongoing suitability, with outdated facilities being graded against modern requirements.

The freedom of information request submitted to PKC asked for details on its staffing numbers, as well as whether it recorded if staff were teaching simultaneous classes – a measure which has been asserted by parents in parts of Perth and Kinross.

But, in its response, PKC’s FOI team said: “This information is not held. In terms of section 17(1) (b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this is formal notice that this information is not held.”

Several parents of pupils in the area have claimed that some secondary school subjects were short-staffed, and pupils were sharing teachers, sometimes using lunch halls to group them together.

A council spokesperson previously denied there had been doubling up of classes at one Perthshire secondary.

It was stated that a teacher in one subject was called on to ‘cover’ three classes in different rooms, all at the same time.

The request also covered the number of part-time educational staff in school.

The response from PKC was dated ahead of the decision to cut the number of specialist or visiting teaching staff such as physical education or expressive arts. It was recently revealed that a total of 16 schools are affected by the shake-up.

At that time the council said that the number of teachers in part-time roles was 499 employees.

This was down from 2016 when it was 523, but there were 512 in 2014, and 460 in 2013.

PKC added that some staff held down more than one part-time post.

In the same period the number of classroom assistants was 361 in 2017, progressively up from 2013 when there were 261. Vacant posts were not counted. Some of the increase may be caused by the changing role of class assistants – another subtle change in education –to provide more flexibility to schools.

The figures include a new role of pupil school support worker which emerged in 2014.

Classroom assistants’ average hours of work was between 22.6 to 23.6 over the research period.