New figures showing the number of complaints made about Aberdeen’s schools have been blasted as “very worrying” by opposition councillors.
Last year 73 grievances were filed relating to issues including customer service, employee behaviour and policy at 31 schools across the city.
In 2012-13, this number stood at just eight.
The sharp increase has been attributed to a change in the way complaints are handled, but questions have been raised about the proportion of these which are being upheld.
SNP group education spokesman Alex Nicoll said: “It’s not just the number of complaints that have shot up but also the number being upheld.
“77% of stage two complaints were upheld or partially upheld in the last year we have full information for.”
This marked an increase from the 50% upheld or partially upheld in 2015-16, and 42% in 2014-15.
Aberdeen City Council says that all complaints are logged at the frontline, or stage one, with those requiring investigation escalated to stage two.
It says the complaints may be upheld if procedures have not been followed or the service delivered was not up to standard.
Councillor Nicol added: “These are very worrying trends and there needs to be clear assurances from the council that there are no underlying issues at play here.
“If there are real problems here then that will only get worse without a senior council officer with responsibility solely for education.”
Education convener John Wheeler said: “What we see from these figures is an increase in recorded complaints as a result of an enhanced recording system.
“So it’s not that the numbers of complaints have necessarily increased, but rather our schools have become better at dealing with them.
“Due to the change in procedure it would be dangerous to draw conclusions that there had been some deterioration in our schools and frankly that sort of rhetoric only serves to undermine the hard work and dedication of the teachers and managers we are fortunate enough to have within education at Aberdeen City Council.”
An Aberdeen City Council spokeswoman said: “With the introduction and rollout of the ACC Complaints Handling Toolkit, the number and proportion of stage one complaints have increased through enhanced recording.”
