Inside Education: Why schools are an easy target

Published on Monday 5 January 2009 21:05

A NEW year and yet more damning statistics on falling teacher numbers emerge.

Last week, figures from the Scottish Government revealed that more than half of Scotland's teachers are due to retire or leave the profession in the next four years.

The news followed public-sector employment figures which showed the number of teachers at its lowest level for two years. This, despite the SNP administration's vow to maintain teacher numbers to deliver another of its key election pledges – smaller class sizes.

Like dominoes, the government's own figures are toppling its education manifesto promises.

And sources revealed that the issue is spilling over from an education issue to become a political one.

The Scotsman understands opposition parties are increasingly seeing education as the wobbly plank on the SNP's policy ship. And insiders say government attempts to discredit their own public-sector figures are lending ammunition to their fire.

A source said: "What this furore illustrates is the number of teachers employed across Scotland is declining, and the Scottish Government has no credible excuse for the fall.

"If these stats are so meaningless, why are they compiling them at the taxpayer's expense?"

Opposition politicians are beginning to find easy targets in SNP education policy.

The source added: "The fact the Scottish Government is struggling to rubbish the statistics as some kind of defence would seem to indicate that they know worse is to come in the next year."