TEACHER EXODUS TRIGGERS CRISIS IN SCHOOLS
Pension fund swamped as thousands seek to quit the classroom and retire early
THOUSANDS of teachers are set to plunge schools into a staffing crisis by quitting their jobs early. A surge in applications for early retirement has put huge pressure on the teachers’ pension authority.
The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) has warned wouldbe retirees that officials can only deal with the most urgent cases. Around 10,000 teachers are in their mid-to-late 50s – around a quarter of the workforce – and many are keen to leave the profession.
The exodus, which has come to light as pupils return from the summer break, has been blamed on the Scottish Government’s
mismanagement of state schools over the past eight years.
education yesterday emerged as the key battleground ahead of next year’s Holyrood election, as both First Minister nicola sturgeon and new scottish labour leader Kezia Dugdale vowed to make it a priority.
last night, scottish tory young people spokesman elizabeth smith said: ‘schools in scotland are under huge pressure as a result of the SNP’s failed education policies and that is bound to have an effect on teacher morale. with all the problems about the delivery of the new Curriculum for excellence, staff shortages, poor pupil attainment in basic skills and pressures on workload, teachers are feeling the strain.’
it was revealed last week that there are already more than 900 posts unfilled in scotland’s schools, including 51 primary headships.
larry Flanagan of the eis teachers’ union said: ‘the key issue is the workload pressures and the changes to the curriculum and the qualifications – the new Highers and nationals [the exams which replaced standard Grades], the shift in the curriculum and all of the procedures. a lot of longserving teachers are worn down by it all and have decided it is a good point to exit.’
He said there was a ‘spike’ of teachers recruited in the late 1970s and early 1980s who were approaching retirement and rather than stay on until the age of 60, they were choosing to exit early. the scottish Government set up a workforce Planning Group to consider this, but it could not factor in the scale of early retirements.
in 2012 there were 12,644 teachers aged between 50 and 59. in 2005 there were the equivalent of 50,757 school based full-time teachers – nine years later there were 48,442. staff at the SPPA, which administers the scottish teachers’ superannuation scheme for the scottish Government, have been working overtime to deal with the backlog.
the SPPA referred inquiries to the scottish Government which said: ‘we conduct annual teacher workforce planning with relevant partners, where anticipated retirement rates are taken into account.’
Despite an SNP manifesto pledge to cut class sizes, more than 60,000 primary school pupils were given lessons in classes of 30 or above last year. the figure has risen by 9 per cent in only one year as schools fail to provide enough teachers to meet demand.
it comes as the scottish Government’s ‘pupil census’ shows that 108,520 primary school pupils are in controversial ‘composite’ classes where children of mixed ability are taught together.
the figures have sparked concern that local authorities are splicing year groups together into combined classes because of staff shortages, although the scenario is considered useful in rural schools.
this week, Miss sturgeon is expected to make a keynote speech on education, setting out the achievements of the past eight years and ‘ demonstrating the focus her government is placing on increasing attainment levels in all schools.’
scottish tory MSP alex Johnstone said: ‘while this is welcome, it should not have taken so long for nicola sturgeon to start taking these issues seriously.’
Miss Dugdale said: ‘ nothing is more important to me than giving young people the chance of a better life, no matter their background.’
an SNP spokesman said: ‘as we prepare for the return of parliament and the run-up to the 2016 elections, the SNP will set out a bold programme for government that will build on our record of improvement in health, education, justice and the economy.’
responding to criticism of its performance on education last night, a scottish Government spokesman said it was ‘determined to close the attainment gap between the most and least advantaged pupils, with a £100million scottish attainment Challenge created to improve outcomes in our most disadvantaged communities, while we have committed enhanced funding of £51million to local authorities to safeguard teacher posts for the next year’.
HOW shameful that the SNP is only now – and with one cynical eye on the 2016 Holyrood election – pledging to make education a priority.
The party has tinkered disastrously with the curriculum and presided over an alarming number of staff vacancies in schools.
Morale is now so low among our teachers that thousands are exploring the possibility of exiting the profession via early retirement. The body administering their pensions is so swamped by the sheer volume of inquiries that it has warned it can deal only with the most urgent, timesensitive requests.
Most children will be back in school this week after the holidays. Many will find themselves in composite classes – a lifeline for some rural schools but increasingly cobbled together to cover staff shortages. Many will attend schools which lack a head teacher.
The blame for all of this lies at the door of the SNP, for education – pivotal for today’s children who must compete in a global market – was put on the back burner as the Nationalists directed all their energies at their reckless separation pipe dream.
If even a fraction of those teachers inquiring about quitting do actually go, this crisis in our classrooms will be exceptionally difficult to solve.
Sadly, things are likely to get worse in our schools for a generation of young Scots betrayed by a party which puts its independence monomania above everything else.