£10m ÷ 500 older teachers - 500 new teachers. Discuss

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 22:04

A PLAN to pay 500 teachers to take early retirement to create jobs for newly qualified staff has been slammed as a "panic measure".

The proposal by the Scottish Government has been criticised for encouraging councils to take on more debt.

Instead of providing funding, Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, announced she will provide up to 10 million of debt across the country for councils to share over the next two years.

Education leaders warned few councils would want to dip into the red to bail the government out of a broken manifesto vow.

Pat Watters, president of council umbrella group, Cosla said: "This is a quick fix and, as is often the case, a quick fix will not solve what is a fundamental problem."

A survey by Cosla found the "vast majority" of councils to be against the scheme.

The government also said it would launch a website in January to help unemployed teachers maintain their skills.

In its election manifesto, the SNP promised to maintain teacher numbers at 53,000, but that has already fallen by 1,000, according to official figures.

Ms Hyslop said of the latest scheme: "Importantly, this work is being progressed extremely quickly and I fully expect to see new teachers being employed this financial year as a result of today's announcement."

The government claims it would save councils money by replacing high-earning teachers at the top of the pay scale with those on the lowest pay.

This could equate to a saving of 8,286 a year per teacher or 4m annually across Scotland if 500 experienced teachers took up the offer. However, it could cost 10m over two years.

A teacher at the top of the pay scale earns 33,399, while a newly qualified professional earns 25,113.

Teachers welcomed early- retirement deals but doubted whether councils would opt for greater debt.

A spokesman for Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, said: "In the current economic climate, very few – if any – councils are in a position to borrow against future budgets.

"While the Scottish Government will argue that local authorities have already been funded sufficiently to allow teacher numbers to be maintained, the reality is that government has failed to prevent councils cutting teaching posts."

Des McNulty, Labour education spokesman, said the government should be putting money in rather than facilitating debt.

Teacher census figures out on Friday would show the number of teachers had fallen even further, he claimed.

He said: "Which is why the Scottish Government has resorted to panic measures."

Greater borrowing would lead to service cuts and a squeeze on new school building projects, he said.

Mr McNulty added: "The government needs to come up with new money and a properly worked-out plan."