Significant drop in Argyll and Bute teacher numbers

The number of teachers working in Argyll and Bute has dropped significantly, new official figures reveal.

In 2022, there were 835 teachers in local authority schools, the joint lowest on record. It compares to 972 teachers when the SNP came to power in Scotland in 2007, a drop of 14 per cent.

The statistics were published in the teacher census statistics, released by the Scottish Government.

They showed that, aside from in 2017, every year had a higher number of teachers in Argyll and Bute.

Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron said the data would concern parents in the area, as well as teachers left behind to pick up the slack.

The statistics cover primary and secondary schools. Across Scotland, there were 54,193 teachers in publicly-funded schools in 2022.

Scottish Conservative Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron said: “Parents will be alarmed to see the downward trend in the number of teachers working in Argyll and Bute.

“The area already has well-documented difficulties when it comes to attracting key skilled employees like GPs and dentists. If that now extends to primary and secondary teachers, it will have even deeper impacts in our rural communities.

“Since the SNP came to power in 2007, the numbers of teachers in our part of the world has declined markedly - that’s something the Scottish Government must answer for.

“Teachers are so valuable to communities and they are already working extremely hard without having to bear a greater burden.

“I hope the Scottish Government takes notice of these figures and works hard to ensure Argyll and Bute has sufficient numbers of teachers to meet future demand.”

Education secretary ShirleyAnne Somerville said: “Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of teachers based on their local needs.

“We are committed to securing recruitment of more teachers across all local authority areas, including Argyll and Bute. Last month, I set out measures to Parliament which underlines our commitment to this and this is backed by significant additional funding.

“The Scottish Government will provide £145.5 million in the 2023-24 budget to protect increased teacher numbers. Where this is not being delivered by a local authority, we will withhold or recoup funding which has been given for this purpose.

“We have published a consultation on a new legal minimum number of school learning hours. If approved by Parliament, councils would be required to provide the equivalent of 25 teaching hours per week in primaries and 27.5 hours in secondaries a year.”

‘The area already has well-documented difficulties when it comes to attracting key skilled employees. If that now extends to primary and secondary teachers, it will have even deeper impacts in our rural communities.’