Education cutbacks - 'A more blunt axe could have been wielded'

WHEN the News last week revealed the full scale of cuts being planned at the city council we noted the lack of "big ticket" measures such as school closures.

We speculated that this was due to the pain felt when this administration last blundered into a programme of axeings, but we warned that the result was that other savings would have to be found.

Today we have a much more full picture of how officials in the children and families department think they can save 10.5 million from their annual budget.

Among parents, the biggest concerns will be over proposals to increase the sizes of English and maths classes in the first two years of secondary school.

The evidence about the importance of class sizes is ambivalent - better a good teacher leading a class of 25 than a poor one in front of 20 pupils - but these are undoubtedly key years in which a child's prospects are shaped.

Some parents will also resist moves to charge for music tuition, but they may have an ally in education convener Marilyne MacLaren who is known to believe children should have a chance to develop skills outside the three Rs.

Teachers will find much to object to, though the cuts are targeted at senior promoted posts so the prospects of industrial action seem slim - but that will change if the national agreement is modified to increase time in the classroom.

If anything, there may be more scope for unrest among support staff, specifically bursars and business managers who face job losses, and moreover janitors, whose conditions could change dramatically.

Despite all this, overall the sense is that a more blunt axe could have been wielded, and there will be relief that no more schools are earmarked for closure.

Invest in youth

EVEN in these times of austerity, it is important that some areas continue to get investment.

We highlight one such project today - a city programme to provide dedicated nursing and social support to teenage mums.

This would be too easily decried as pandering to feckless girls and rewarding them for getting pregnant at such a young age.

Intervention is the only way to sort their lives out and prevent the same mistakes being repeated by the next generation. As such, it is an investment for all our futures.