Headteachers call for more carrot less stick

For years debate has raged around the difficulties in recruiting headteachers, with some rural jobs sometimes remaining vacant for months.

A manifesto, ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary elections, has been published by the secondary heads' union, School Leaders Scotland (SLS).

The group hopes laying out its key demands will help influence the policies of the main political parties before the May polls.

The document, published this week, also calls for an examination of how power is exerted over headteachers.

Ken Cunningham, general secretary of SLS, said giving every youngster a good chance was the priority for every headteacher.

He said: "We need a governance model which allows us to get on and do that, a model which has accountability but with less bureaucracy."

He said headteachers recognised it was a difficult financial climate but said changes were necessary to make the most effective use of resources to make the system "equitable".

Another demand is to reduce the stress on teachers by cutting bureaucracy.

Headteachers would like to be more autonomous, according to the manifesto, which they claim would improve the situation.

Mr Cunningham said: "There are so many different pressures coming at heads from government, both central and local, as well as different organisations.

"More autonomy would allow them to get on with the job - it's about being able to manage the school with its community."

The manifesto also calls for "a more cost effective local authority structure".

Mr Cunningham said: "We suspect 32 local authorities is too many in the current financial climate - it is inefficient and is creating more inequalities above those that were already there."

SLS also demands the creation of a system that "attracts and repays the best people throughout the system - it's not just heads".

One move to fill posts in rural areas has been to have shared headships, with leaders running more than one school.

A survey last year found there were 113 heads running more than one school in 17 local authorities.

East Lothian last year said adopting the measure would save up to 24,000 for each school using a shared head.Critics have long warned the pay increase from depute to headteacher is not enough to make up for the extra hours, increased paperwork, additional responsibility and the pressure from myriad organisations from council employers, central government to school inspectors.

Margaret Smith, the Liberal Democrats' education spokeswoman, said: "We do believe that headteachers should have more autonomy but the local authority needs to be there as a safeguard."

Liz Smith, Conservative education spokeswoman, reiterated the party's stance that headteachers should have more power.

And Angela Constance, the Scottish schools minister, said: "I do believe, in many cases, headteachers are equipped to make local decisions."