Education cuts will see ‘seismic’ hit on pupils
Parents and teachers warn of ‘emergency’ for city’s schools
PROPOSED education cuts in Glasgow will create a “state of emergency” that will have a “seismic impact” on young people, according to teachers and parents in the city.
Members of the EIS teaching union, the Glasgow City Parents Group, and the Association of Headteachers and Deputes Scotland, have raised serious concerns about issues including falling attainment, worsening mental health, increased exclusions and reduced pupil safety.
Despite this, The Herald can reveal that plans to reduce teaching posts are already under way.
Councillors have already approved budget proposals which included cutting hundreds of teaching posts and ending support for co-ordinators managing a “transformational” pupil mentoring scheme.
The Herald understands that a new staffing formula will see many more primary school staff allocated full teaching timetables, including those currently part of senior leadership teams alongside headteachers.
Speaking anonymously, one headteacher from the city explained that schools would need to use Pupil Equity Funding to hire more teachers if they wish to compensate for the changes, but that this may not be possible in practice.
The latest development comes despite previous claims that further work would be carried out before decisions on implementing the agreed cuts were progressed. Responding to a constituent earlier this month, Scottish Greens councillor Blair Anderson wrote that the budget agreement “included a new crossparty group to be set up to explore options for ‘Service Redesign and Future Income Generation’, with a ‘Review of the MCR Pathways programme’ to be included as part of wider education service reform”.
He went on to claim that “what these reforms will look like in practice is still a matter for further political consideration, and we are awaiting confirmation from the chief executive’s office and city treasurer on how this work will be taken forward”.
However, The Herald can also exclusively reveal that an association for primary school leaders has also warned about the dire consequences of the council’s plans.
The Association of Headteachers and Deputes Scotland (AHDS) surveyed its members in Glasgow, asking about the potential impact of the council’s proposed cuts. The “main impacts” of reduced teacher numbers included lower attainment levels, less time for children who need individual support, an increase in school exclusions, reduced support for and engagement with families, decreased capacity for school improvement activities, and potential safety issues for both pupils and staff.
Asked what activities schools or the council should cease in order to cope with the cuts to teacher numbers, AHDS members said that the council should considerably reduce the paperwork and administrative burden they face, while schools will “need to reduce what is on offer”, meaning that “family learning, sports events, whole school events will be no longer possible”.
Greg Dempster, general secretary of the Association of Headteachers and Deputes Scotland, which represents nearly 90% of primary school leaders in Glasgow, told The Herald that the council has “voted through a massive cut to education budgets which was hidden as ‘service redesign’ rather than in the education section of the budget”.
“Reducing teacher numbers is not service redesign, it is a high-impact cut to what can be offered to pupils.
“The impact of the planned cuts to teacher numbers in the coming year will be to seriously curtail the ability of schools to support their most
city. Reacting to the development, a spokesperson for the Scottish Hospitality Group said: “While we welcome this announcement as a starting point, we need this policy taken off the table completely to allow the return of consumer and business confidence.
“We are always ready and willing to discuss how we help to regenerate our city centres, but we must focus on how we restore a proper reliable public transport system, rather than continually hitting our consumers, businesses and workers with a second tax for parking after LEZ.”
A joint letter, published on Wednesday, was signed by hospitality organisations and businesses including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), the Scottish Hospitality Group (SHG), Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and Unite Hospitality.
It said: “Businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors are teetering on the brink of collapse. Numerous beloved establishments have already sadly closed their doors permanently in recent years.”
The statement acknowledges the “immense financial pressure” facing Glasgow council, but highlights the “extremely challenging” trading conditions for hospitality businesses in the city.
The signatories call on the council to discard the Standardisation of Chargeable House Across Parking Zones, put forward in its three-year budget.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said the proposed changes require public consultation and will take time to implement, with no changes expected until 2025 at the earliest.
They said: “But we have taken on board initial feedback from the city centre hospitality sector and we will review the proposal for the city centre.
“We want to get the balance right for those who rely on private vehicles to come into the city centre and also the promotion of Glasgow’s evening economy.”