Battle over plan to give jobs to new teachers
under-pressure Council bosses believe scheme is not thought through
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A row broke out between the Scottish Government and council bosses last night over plans to allow local authorities to borrow up to £10million to create permanent jobs for new teachers over the next two years.
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) is “furious” that Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop wants to put councils under further pressure by using money to allow up to 500 older staff to take early retirement to free up posts.
Scotland’s largest teaching union the EIS said that while the scheme is “desirable” in practice, very few councils, which are already cutting teacher numbers, will be able to borrow money from future budgets.
Labour and the Conservatives poured scorn on the announcement, which does not involve any new money.
They described it as a “panic measure” to address the fact that teacher numbers across the country have dropped by 1,000 in recent times.
Ms Hyslop insisted that the move, with other measures to support supply teachers and a review to examine teacher education, would help improve education in Scotland.
She said: “I am determined to make sure this government does everything it can to support our teachers and help as many new teachers as possible into jobs.
“This work is being progressed extremely quickly and I fully expect to see new teachers being employed this financial year as a result of the announcement,” added the minister.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, described the announcement as “extremely good news”.
Cosla president Pat Watters said the measure had not been properly thought through and it is not something local authorities “want or need”.
He said Ms Hyslop could not know how many teachers will take early retirement under the scheme, and it is for councils to dictate the mix of experienced and less-experienced teachers in each area.
Mr Watters, who is unhappy that Cosla was given so little time to examine the issue, said: “This scheme is not the best use of very limited resources and will certainly not solve councils’ difficulties in isolation of a broader package of flexibility.
“This is a quick fix and, as is often the case, a quick fix will not solve what is a fundamental problem.”
A spokesman for the EIS said: “We agree that providing support to allow teachers to retire early is a desirable move, as this would help to provide improved empl-oyment opportunities for many newly qualified teachers.
“If the Scottish Government hopes to achieve this purely by allowing local authorities to borrow money, then they are likely to be disappointed.
“While the government will argue that local authorities have already been funded sufficiently to allow teacher numbers to be maintained, the reality is it has failed to prevent councils cutting teaching posts across Scotland,” added the EIS spokesman.
The spokesman said more financial support is needed to allow local authorities to fund teacher retirements and create new posts, a view shared by the Liberal Democrats.
Labour education spokes-man Des McNulty said the announcement is “proof positive” that the SNP has no intention of restoring teacher numbers to the 53,000 achieved under his party.
“Despite the SNP manifesto commitment that teacher numbers would be maintained, the last census of teacher numbers showed that there are now 1,000 fewer teachers in Scotland.”
Conservative education spokeswoman Liz Smith added: “This is a panic measure from the SNP government.
“Why should councils build up more debt persuading teachers to retire?”
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