Number of Scots teachers plunges by 1,000

Published on Tuesday 24 March 2009 21:03

THE SNP government has been accused of failing on another key manifesto commitment, after it emerged that the number of teachers in Scotland's classrooms has fallen by almost 1,000 in a year.

Official figures revealed the total number of teachers in pre-school, primary, secondary and special schools and in visiting specialist posts was 53,584 – 975 fewer than in 2007.

The statistics equate to the loss of 20 teachers every week.

The data, based on a census conducted in September, compares with an increase of 54 between 2006 and 2007.

While the SNP pointed out that the average ratio of pupils to teachers in 2008 remained constant at 13 to one, opposition politicians called for Fiona Hyslop, the education secretary, to resign after the failure of another key election pledge.

The statistics follow criticism of the administration's slow progress towards a target of reducing class sizes in P1-3 to 18.

The Scottish Government has also come under fire after thousands of newly qualified teachers failed to find permanent jobs.

The SNP's election manifesto states: "We will maintain teacher numbers in the face of falling school rolls to cut class sizes and place greater emphasis on teacher recruitment for the early years, languages and science."

It adds: "We will reduce class sizes in primary one, two and three to 18 or less to give children more time with their teacher at this vital stage."

The drop was revealed in the Teachers in Scotland census of the profession, published by the Scottish Government yesterday.

It showed there were 23,173 teachers in primary schools, down from 23,554 the previous year, but the pupil-teacher ratio of 16 to one did not change. In secondary schools, the number of teachers fell from 26,251 to 25,767 although, again, the pupil-teacher ratio of 11.8 to one did not change.

The census also showed that, in secondary schools, the largest numbers of teachers were in English (3,268) and maths (3,057). The figures also showed a slight increase in special school teachers, from 2,021 to 2,033. The average age of teachers remained stable, at about 43.

Four councils – Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Aberdeen and North Lanarkshire – were responsible for more than half the reduction in teacher numbers. Each of them blamed falling school rolls and said most had been achieved through not replacing retired teachers.

The SNP dismissed opposition attacks, claiming there were now more teachers than would have been delivered under Labour.

Ms Hyslop hailed the "historic" low pupil-teacher ratio and said the number of primary and secondary teachers was higher than in all but one year of the previous administration.

She added: "Education budgets are rising in real terms, as Cosla (the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities] acknowledge, and they also confirm that the local government settlement provided sufficient resources to maintain teacher numbers at 2007 levels.

"Today's figures show that a very small number of councils account for the vast majority of the overall fall, while many councils have broadly maintained or increased teacher numbers, and we will obviously wish to discuss these matters further with individual local authorities and Cosla as a whole."

But Rhona Brankin, Labour's education spokeswoman, said Scotland's schools had been haemorrhaging teachers. She said: "Ms Hyslop has failed to deliver promises made to teachers, parents and pupils to maintain teacher numbers and cut class sizes, and she must go now."

Elizabeth Smith, the Conservatives' schools spokeswoman, said the figures offered conclusive proof the SNP's class-size policy was "dead in the water".

She said: "They should now make a full apology to every pupil, parent and teacher across Scotland for raising false expectations. They cannot deliver this policy, and the ongoing pretence that they can demonstrates both hypocrisy and incompetence."

Margaret Smith, the education spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, added: "(Ms Hyslop's] own statistics show she has failed.

"The education secretary has presided over a record slump in teacher numbers. Her impact on reducing class sizes has been microscopic."

Ronnie Smith, the general secretary of the EIS union, slammed the Scottish Government for failing in its commitments to maintain teacher numbers at 2007 levels and to reduce class sizes. He said: "The pupils, parents and teachers of Scotland fully expect these commitments to be met. (The SNP] must step up their efforts to meet these commitments."

He predicted that future figures would reveal the situation to be getting worse.

He added: "It is important to remember these statistics highlight teacher numbers that were set early last year, before the true scale of the economic crisis and associated cuts to local authority budgets became clear.

"There is very real concern that we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg, and that worse is yet to come, as local authorities look to implement further cuts in their education budgets for next year and beyond."

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT union, said: "It is deeply worrying to see that the number of teachers in Scotland has declined by nearly 1,000 between 2007 and 2008."

Isabel Hutton, the education spokeswoman for Cosla, cast doubt over the figures, but conceded that councils were under financial pressure.

She said: "It is clear from our discussions with member councils that the figures may not be as robust as we would expect.

"We know that in the last few days substantial adjustments had to be made to the figures for two councils – these represented a swing of 300 from just two council areas. I think we need to clarify the figures before we engage in a policy discussion.

"It is clear that, despite increased investment, budgetary pressures outwith the control of councils, things like rising fuel costs, are hitting councils and unenviable choices are having to be made."

Full circle for engineer after his teaching dream dies

KEN McDermott wanted to make a difference when he quit the electronics industry after 16 years to retrain as a teacher.

After gaining his postgraduate teaching qualification from Glasgow University in 2007, he enjoyed a year as a probationary physics teacher in a secondary school in his home town of Paisley.

But at the end of that year, when he became a fully registered teacher, the work dried up for the 43-year-old.

"Between August and December last year, I had just two days work in a school," he said.

"I was led to believe physics was an in-demand subject, and that's very far from the truth."

Mr McDermott was one of thousands of people attracted to the profession by a guaranteed year of work. However, after that year, there is no guarantee of employment and councils turn to the new cohort of probationers to fill posts.

Mr McDermott has now returned to work for his former employer in the electronics industry.