Call for probe into teacher numbers

Published on Saturday 28 November 2009 23:27

SCOTLAND'S schools crisis could be investigated by a parliamentary inquiry that would examine the 1,300 fall in teacher numbers that has set local authorities against the Scottish Government.

The move by the Scottish Conservatives comes after embattled Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop threatened to wrest schools from council control – a development that infuriated council leaders.

Ministers and the local authorities have been blaming each other for the teacher shortage and the failure to meet class-size targets that were a key SNP manifesto pledge.

Yesterday Murdo Fraser MSP, Tory shadow education secretary, said the Scottish Government was losing the trust of teachers and called for an investigation to be conducted by Holyrood's Education Committee.

At the end of last week, official figures revealed the fall in teacher numbers was accelerating dramatically. Across Scotland, the drop was 1,348 this year, compared with 975 the previous year.

That was accompanied by a failure to reduce class sizes significantly. Even though pupil numbers had fallen, the average primary class size was 23.1 pupils, compared with 23.2 the previous year. Despite the SNP pledge to lower class sizes to 18 for primaries one, two and three, only 13.2 per cent of schools had achieved that target – the same percentage as last year.

Hyslop's threat has led to rebellion from local authorities, who have warned that moves to strip their powers would be dangerous.

The row threatens to rip up the historic concordat deal that the Scottish Government signed with local authorities, which allowed them to spend money as they wished in return for freezing council tax.

"There is a growing crisis in Scotland's schools," Fraser said. "Alex Salmond's SNP is fast losing the trust of teachers and parents.

"His beleaguered Education Secretary is getting more isolated and desperate day by day.

"Conservatives have long argued our schools need greater autonomy to run their own affairs. But centralising all control to the woman in the ministry is a recipe for disaster."

Des McNulty, Labour's shadow education secretary, said: "All these problems are of Fiona Hyslop's own making. There needs to be proper dialogue on the way forward and we need to get out of this blame game."

A spokesman for the First Minister denied that the concordat was unravelling, but admitted that removing education from council control was an option that would be discussed when the full SNP cabinet holds talks with council leaders.