Crisis in class as schools lack 2,000 teachers
‘Their workload has increased’
MORE than 2,000 teaching posts have been readvertised in the past three years because a suitable candidate could not be found, sparking renewed fears about the school recruitment crisis.
New figures show schools are regularly unable to find suitably qualified and available staff to fill posts, with critics blaming ‘a decade of mismanagement’ by the Scottish Government.
The summer term began last year with many posts unfilled.
Scottish liberal Democrat education spokesman Tavish Scott, who obtained the figures through freedom of information requests, said: ‘Parents and pupils will be worried to learn that almost 2,500 teaching posts have had to be advertised on multiple occasions.
‘There will be occasions when people do apply and subsequently do not take up the post, forcing councils to re-advertise, but there is no doubt teaching posts across Scotland are proving stubbornly hard to fill.’
He added: ‘The impact of a decade of mismanagement by the SNP is clear. Teaching is a rewarding profession but there is an urgent need to make it more attractive to both existing and potential teachers. That starts by having an honest conversation about how much they do. Every teacher knows support staff have been cut and their workload has increased.
‘That is why the Education Secretary must respond to our calls for a new independent root and branch review to ensure teachers have the conditions, numbers and support to match the demands placed on them. That would be a positive step for government to take.’
The figures show 2,275 teaching posts have had to be releast advertised in the past three years. last year, Dundee City Council re-advertised 150 posts – more than any other authority – followed by North lanarkshire Council at 143, Aberdeen at 132, Aberdeenshire at 121, and Perth and Kinross at 113.
The lib Dems are calling for the SNP to provide an extra £500million for education in its Budget ahead of the final vote at Holyrood in the middle of next month, to help provide additional classroom support.
As a minority government, the SNP has to win the support of at one other party to allow its Budget to pass.
Ministers have been desperately trying to secure the liberal Democrats’ support so they will not be forced to rely on the support of the pro-independence Greens for a second successive year.
The Scottish Government points out that it provided universities with a £1million fund to help develop new routes into teaching and is offering £20,000 bursaries for people who want to switch career and become teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Ministers have also launched a teacher recruitment campaign from the end of last August and are in the process of creating a new route into teaching aimed at high-quality graduates.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We recognise some areas have faced challenges filling vacancies.
‘This is why we have invested £88million in 2017, resulting in 543 more teachers than last year – the second year in a row that there’s been an increase in teacher numbers.’
He added: ‘We have taken decisive action to help recruit and retain teachers through our Teaching Makes People campaign, focussing specifically on attracting new teachers and career changers into STEM and other subjects.’