New teachers lose out in hunt for jobs

ONLY 20 of the 216 probationers employed in schools across Edinburgh last year have been given permanent jobs by the city council, it has emerged.

A survey of all local councils in Scotland revealed that there has been a decline in the number of new teachers finding permanent contracts across the country, from about one in three four years ago to one in nine this year.

The situation in Edinburgh has remained roughly the same as last year, where 19 probationers out of 215 were given permanent jobs.

Out of the 216 probationers working in the Capital in 2009-10, a further 17 were given temporary contracts while 117 were placed on the supply list.

Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, said: "The longer you are without a permanent post, the more difficult it is.

"And the longer you're away from probation, the less time is spent in school and the fewer buzz-words you know which also makes it more difficult."