Seven local authorities in the north of Scotland have criticised the Holyrood policy in a joint statement, citing a particularly severe impact on STEM subjects. The scheme requires councils to maintain existing teacher numbers even if pupil rolls drop, leading to an excess of teachers for some authorities and a shortage for others, critics say.
The Northern Alliance, which includes Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray, said: “There are serious concerns in relation to recruiting certain subject specialisms in secondary schools, particularly in the STEM subjects, home economics and modern languages, and there are serious risks to attainment in national examinations as a result of this.”
A report on schools by Education Scotland published in March also linked pressures on classroom standards with an impact from recent shortages.
Cosla, which represents all 32 councils, reiterated the concerns, saying: “The continued focus of government on teacher numbers as a key performance indicator of councils’ commitment to maintaining and improving education outcomes is unhelpful.
“It skews the issue of recruitment to fulfil a national staffing ratio rather than allow councils to seek to recruit the most appropriate numbers of teaching staff to meet the needs of children and young people in their schools.”
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union, which has always supported protection of teacher numbers, also called for the introduction of a national minimum staffing standard to replace the current approach.
The union said: “While the arrangement gives certainty about the overall level of teacher involvement in education in Scotland, it has proven to be restrictive for local management and efficient deployment of resources. It can also mask a wide variety of staffing models across Scotland ... and it can preclude any significant local adjustment when there are changes in pupil numbers within the school year. An alternative ... is to develop and agree a minimum staffing standard.”
A government spokesman said: “We are investing £88 million this year alone so every school has access to the right number of teachers, with an additional
£3 million to train an extra 371 teachers in 2017/18.”
The government’s deal with local authorities to maintain the pupil-teacher ratio has halted a period of steady decline in teacher recruitment by councils and resulted in 253 more teachers last year – the first substantial increase since 2007 – he said.
The Northern Alliance also said extra money for schools to tackle the effects of deprivation had led to more teachers being recruited in urban areas, which worsened shortages elsewhere.
Last year it emerged there were 730 unfilled vacancies across 27 councils in Scotland.