Failure to add up

Your leader about teacher employment (3 June) shows a failure of competence in the administration of the Scottish Government over the past 12 years.

Calculating approximate pupil numbers is not difficult, there is usually five years advance data on primary intake and 12 years on secondary. Also calculating the retirement ages of teachers is not difficult with up to 40 years' warning of leaving the profession.

Yet we bounce around like a pinball machine. Back in the 1970s when I entered the profession as a mature trainee, the Labour government had a desperate campaign called the Scottish Teacher Special Recruitment Scheme to get more numbers into the profession.

There is another timebomb awaiting the education service in that the "baby boomers" of the 1945-1950 years are retiring. Until 2015 we are going to see larger than normal numbers leaving the profession.

Since all this data is readily available, the minister should have a small group analysing the figures to show him the shortfall or surplus over the next few years. They can also see where shortages are appearing and offer subject retraining as a temporary measure to align requirements. Then, along with the finance minister, they can see if they can maintain the necessary numbers or possibly even reduce pupil/teacher ratios. That way we might not have the present situation of an employment problem every year.

BRUCE D SKIVINGTON

Pairc a Ghlib

Strath Gairloch, Wester Ross