Holyrood's attitude towards school cuts 'not good enough'

A HEADTEACHER has accused the Scottish Government of failing pupils as schools brace themselves for further budget cuts.

Rory Mackenzie, head at Balerno High, said a failure to understand the tasks facing schools as they face funding cuts was "not good enough for our pupils".

Highlighting the two per cent efficiency savings imposed on councils by the SNP Government, he said there was an "unfortunate deficit in understanding" the situation facing schools.

If the two per cent cut is applied to Edinburgh's schools, it would mean an average-sized secondary losing around 100,000, on top of 45,000 from previous cuts, he said.

The long-serving headteacher – previously seconded to help implement the Scottish Government's McCrone Report – fears he will be forced to lose staff.

Balerno High would lose 114,000 if the two per cent cut was imposed, and Mr Mackenzie said there is "no room for manoeuvre" other than on staff costs.

Mr Mackenzie said schools needed more time and money to implement the Scottish Government's Curriculum for Excellence, which requires them to carry out a thorough review of teaching practices.

In a letter to The Times Educational Supplement Scotland, he said: "Teachers across Scotland are working hard to fulfil ambitious expectations, while struggling with limited resources and facing the likelihood of further cutbacks."

He added: "Headteachers are asking committed teachers to take lead roles in this far-reaching development, with no extra time or resource allocation.

"Our political leaders' unfortunate deficit in understanding this is exemplified by the inadequate allocation of one extra in-service day a year over three years.

"The lack of grasp of the reality of the complex tasks faced by schools, compounded by the lack of an appropriate level of funding, is, to use Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop's phrase, 'not good enough' for our pupils."

The headteacher's warning echoes fears raised by parents across the city.

Liz Carrie, chair of Balerno's parent council, said the school was already suffering from last year's cuts and had had to reduce the number of subjects at Higher and Advanced Higher levels.

She said: "More demands are being put on the school and no extra time or money is being given for the huge curriculum change. The parent council would like no cuts this year and funding for the 1.5 per cent we lost last year."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the city council was not obliged to impose a two per cent cut on education spending. She said: "Within the increased resource provided, it is for individual councils to take and justify specific decisions, based on their assessment of needs and priorities.

"The Concordat (on spending between the Scottish Government and councils] also enables them to keep efficiency savings and reinvest them in frontline services.

"This should release over 1 billion over the three years of this spending review period that local authorities can invest in their priorities – which we would expect to include schools and teachers."

She said teachers were being given one extra day of training each year to help introduce the new curriculum.