Nursery staff to teach in schools
SCOTS schools could see nursery teachers drafted in to teach primary classes as the education staffing crisis deepens.
The bleak situation has been laid bare by one SNPled council which fears it does not have the resources to cover staff absences – including maternity leave.
Clackmannanshire Council has unveiled a list of contingency plans, while also warning some classes for certain year groups may be cut.
Yesterday, Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘This is the consequence of an SNP government which has had a boom and bust approach to teacher training.’
NURSERY teachers may be drafted in to help deal with a growing recruitment crisis in Scotland’s schools, education bosses have warned.
Concerns have been raised over plummeting numbers of teachers in primaries and secondaries across the country, with fears children may be turned away from their nearest school, while some may have to drop certain year groups.
One local authority yesterday warned that it could be forced to take drastic action to fill staff vacancies before pupils return from summer holidays next month.
Clackmannanshire Council’s chief education officer Anne Pearson has warned that due to a rise in the number of pupils registered in the area, schools may have to draft in nursery teachers to teach primary classes, turn children away or breach class size limits.
Critics have claimed any changes could have a ‘hugely detrimental’ impact and blamed the Scottish Government for leaving councils in the lurch.
Yesterday, Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said the SNP had been well warned over teacher shortages. She added: ‘Parents will be alarmed that things have got so bad.’
In a briefing note to council bosses, Mrs Pearson said that in order to find room for 90 extra pupils in the 2017-18 session, the local authority must employ an additional 13 teachers. But she raised concerns that this would not be an easy task.
One of the suggestions could see nursery teachers brought in to teach primary classes. It is understood those teachers would be qualified for the job because in Scotland primary qualifications include teaching those aged three to 11.
However, the fear is that this would lead to a shortage of staff in nurseries.
The note, which was published yesterday, states that in order to
‘Parents will be alarmed’
avoid shortages, senior managers in school may be forced to cover absences, while schools could also be forced to cut classes for certain year groups.
Although Clackmannanshire Council insists it has enough teachers for the term starting in August, bosses admit there is a ‘risk’ as this relies on ‘no staff leaving and no staff absence at the beginning of term’.
The briefing adds that there is ‘potentially no cover’ for teachers who may be off sick or on maternity leave.
Yesterday, the Educational Institute of Scotland union warned that moving nursery teachers into primary schools would be ‘hugely detrimental’ and insisted the plans were ‘short sighted and a false economy’.
Previously, Nicola Sturgeon was accused of presiding over a ‘recruitment crisis’ in the classroom. There are now 4,000 fewer teachers in Scotland than when the SNP came to power in 2007.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘All primary teachers are fully qualified to teach in both primary and early-years settings. It is not uncommon for teachers to work across both nursery and primary school settings as required.’
Earlier this year, Blairgowrie High School headteacher Bev Leslie asked parents if they could help teach maths to pupils.
The school, in Education Secretary John Swinney’s Perthshire North constituency, told them that staffing problems were ‘not untypical in Scottish education at present’.
YET more ominous news on education as a council if forced to consider drastic measures to tackle a teacher recruitment crisis.
Clackmannanshire Council has drawn up a list of contingency plans, including drafting in nursery teachers to take primary classes and turning youngsters away from their nearest school. It smacks of trying to paper over the cracks – a shameful situation in modern Scotland.
After a decade in sole charge of education, blame for the crisis in our schools lies fair and square with the SNP. This is not about what Labour did ten years ago, or about Tory austerity.
It is yet another facet of the bitter legacy of the succession of lacklustre SNP education secretaries – Fiona Hyslop, Mike Russell, Angela Constance. And while present incumbent John Swinney tinkers, the life chances of a generation of young Scots are damaged.
With breath-taking hypocrisy, Nicola Sturgeon invited the country to judge her government on its achievements in education while dedicating all her efforts to futile and unwanted attempts to break up Britain.
Damagingly, Clackmannanshire Council is SNP controlled. When schools lack the staff to cover absences such as maternity cover, surely even the separatists’ most ardent supporters must question the party’s ability to get the basics of governance right.