Class sizes up as council wields job axe

Published on Friday 5 March 2010 20:57

A COUNCIL is planning major cuts in almost every area of its education service, it has emerged.

Fife Council is cutting 100 jobs, including 24 secondary teachers, as the result of 14 million cuts from its overall budget. Now a letter seen by The Scotsman to all education staff shows the breakdown of the 3m of cuts to school services.

Funding to Fife's music service will be cut by 400,000 and on-going training for teachers which is crucial for implementing the new curriculum will drop by 254,000.

Money for staffing in secondary will fall by 540,000, raising class sizes from 20 to 25 in first year maths and English, and money for targeting schools in deprived areas will fall by 213,000.

The details emerged as up to 10,000 teachers and parents prepare to march through Glasgow today in protest at education cuts across Scotland.

The Fife cuts were described by Peter Grant, leader of the council's administration, as realistic given cash constraints.

Fife Council employs 23,000 altogether and Mr Grant warned of further "significant" jobs cuts to come.

However, Fife is only the latest in a series of cuts at councils including Shetland and Edinburgh.

Lindsay Roy, Labour MP for Glenrothes and former Fife headteacher, described education funding as in "crisis".

He said: "It is a national disgrace what the SNP are doing to education and schools are not safe in their hands. Virtually every promise made by the SNP on education has been broken.

"Teacher numbers are down by 2,000, support staff down by 1,000, schools are crumbling, and parents and teachers are being forced to buy books and equipment for classrooms.

University and college staff are also set to join the protest today organised by Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS.

The University and College Union (UCU) earlier this week protested about government cuts to teacher training at Edinburgh University after all staff were sent redundancy warning notices.

The rally and march will begin at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park at 10:30am, as part of the EIS's Why Must Our Children Pay campaign.

Des McNulty, Labour's education spokesman and an EIS member, said: "I will be supporting the campaign for Scottish schools on Saturday which brings together teachers and parents.

He said: "(Education secretary] Mike Russell should come to Kelvingrove Park on Saturday and explain why he is cutting teacher numbers, slashing teacher education and mishandling the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence.

"If he turns up, I hope he will acknowledge the anger felt by parents and teachers at these SNP cuts and change his party's approach."