Figures show 90 per cent of new teachers out of work

THE Scottish Government's handling of teacher recruitment was today branded "disastrous" as figures showed that 90% of probationers do not have a job.

Fewer than 300 out of nearly 3,000 newly-qualified teachers have been given a permanent contract in the council area where they trained, it emerged today.

A further 450 new teachers have been given temporary contracts while 1,105, almost 40%, are looking for short-term supply work.

But Education Secretary Mike Russell said many teachers will get work outside the council area they trained and throughout the year.

Labour education spokesman Des McNulty said: "These figures show the wasted money as well as the human cost of the SNP's cuts in teacher numbers.

"New young teachers, educated at public expense, cannot find jobs because of the straightjacket imposed by the SNP on spending on our schools.

"Over the last three years the prospects for young teachers have grown worse with the collapse in teacher numbers, leaving the majority of probationary teachers scrabbling for work."

It is expected that many teachers will gain work as the new academic term approaches.

But many teachers are known to be moving abroad to seek work, with hundreds having registered to work in England in recent years.

"The SNP's handling of education policy, at a time when the Scottish Government budget has been increasing, has had disastrous consequences for young teachers," Mr McNulty added.

Mr Russell said the figures "totally ignore" the fact that newly-qualified teachers may find employment in a different council to that in which they completed their induction year.

"A significant number do not spend their induction year in their first-choice authority and will prefer to seek employment elsewhere," Mr Russell said.

"We know from previous years that new teachers continue to find jobs through the year and I am confident we'll see this again this year.

"There are also fewer probationers entering the system this summer,

which will help free up jobs for those newly-qualified teachers seeking employment."

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Margaret Smith branded it "a staggering waste of public money" to train new teachers and leave them without work.

"The way that newly-qualified teachers have been treated is one of the biggest disappointments of the SNP's time in office," she said.

"Rather than maintaining teacher numbers as they promised, the SNP have lost more than 2,500."