'Breaking point': More than 5,500 school support staff stuck on temporary contracts in Scotland

‘Insecurity’ for workers on the frontline of nation’s school violence crisis

Thousands of school support staff in Scotland are stuck on temporary contracts despite often being the frontline against the surge in classroom violence.

New figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives under freedom of information laws reveal more than 5,500 support staff were on temporary contracts in June last year.

The data shows there were 547 support staff on temporary contracts in Fife alone, as well as 431 in West Lothian, 411 in Moray, 363 in Highland, and 322 in Renfrewshire.

Primary school pupils during a lesson.

The most recently published national statistics state that there were just under 18,000 full-time equivalent support staff in Scottish schools in 2022, the majority of whom were pupil support assistants.

Support staff took industrial action last year, leading to school closures across Scotland in a battle over pay, which was settled in November.

An in-depth study of Scotland’s school behaviour crisis recently found one in ten primary school support staff said they had encountered use of weapons in incidents between pupils in the classroom in the last week, with the proportion rising to 11 per cent this year from 3 per cent in 2016.

One staff member told the researchers: “Physical violence for me is the one thing that's really escalated. What can you do when a child's attacking you, besides keep moving away? Then if they follow you, where do you go? You've got nowhere to go.”

Concerns have also been growing about the lack of stability for teachers, many of whom continue to struggle to find jobs.

Official statistics published last month show there are 54,033 teachers in Scotland, with only 82 per cent on permanent contracts, although the proportion remained similar to previous years.

In the year after probation, just 29 per cent of teachers were in permanent, full-time posts last year. A total of 71 per cent were in some kind of teaching job, including temporary and part-time.

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liam Kerr said: “These startling figures are another example of the SNP’s neglect of education which has pushed Scottish schools to breaking point.

“Standards have slipped across the board, classroom violence has spiralled out of control and we have also seen an alarming number of stress-related absences among school staff on the SNP’s watch.

“And now it has emerged that thousands of teachers and support staff are unable to get a permanent contract. This just adds to the intolerable strain that teachers and school staff already endure, as it fuels job insecurity, while denying pupils stability and continuity.”

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth told MSPs in November that she had sought expert advice on the country’s education workforce modelling analysis, which would “inform our decisions on education workforce planning in future years”.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Over the past ten years the number of teachers in permanent posts has remained fairly stable at over 80 per cent.

"The Scottish Government is again supporting councils in next year's budget (24/25) with £145.5 million to protect teacher numbers, providing assurance for councils and removing this as a barrier to employing staff on permanent contracts.

“It is the hard work of Scotland’s teachers which has delivered record levels of attainment across primary school and significant improvements in secondary.”