The expansion of teacher education into two more Scottish universities will amount to “fiddling while Rome burns” unless the profession’s pay and workload concerns are resolved, a union has warned. 

The warning follows yesterday’s announcement by education secretary and deputy first minister John Swinney that Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University, also in Edinburgh, will offer initial teacher education (ITE) courses for the first time from 2019.

The new courses, funded with £1.3 million from the Scottish government, are aimed at tackling shortages in areas including science and home economics.

But Chris Keates (pictured), general secretary of the NASUWT union, said: “Whilst the announcement of increased capacity for teacher training is welcome, simply expanding the number of places will not address the growing crisis in teacher supply.

“Teaching has to be made more attractive by addressing the deep concerns of teachers about their workload and working conditions.”

She added: “Pay levels have to be made more competitive with other comparable graduate professions. Until these fundamental issues are addressed, this announcement can only be considered as ‘fiddling while Rome burns’.”

Strike action ‘increasingly likely’

Ms Keates made her statement as Nicola Fisher, president of the EIS teaching union, warned that a slump in pay made strike action in schools increasingly likely.

Queen Margaret University will offer an undergraduate primary course with spaces for 120 students, as well as a professional graduate diploma in education (PGDE) in home Economics with 20 places.

Edinburgh Napier University will initially offer 30 places on PGDE courses with a focus on maths and sciences (biology, chemistry and physics). After three years, it plans to expand into other subject areas such as English and computing, offering a maximum of 150 places.

Mr Swinney said that “we are doing everything we can to attract talented and enthusiastic people to the profession” and that the new courses mean “we cannot only recruit additional teachers to take up post within the next two years but build capacity within teacher education”.

He added: “The two new teacher-training courses offer more choice and flexibility for anyone considering teaching as a career, especially in the specialist home economics and Stem subjects, where we know there are shortages at the moment.”

Ken Muir, chief executive of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, said: “This announcement of two new providers is a landmark development in the provision of initial teacher education in Scotland. We must continue to adapt to ensure we do not miss out to other professions on new, high-quality teaching talent.”

Alistair Sambell, vice-principal and deputy vice-chancellor at Edinburgh Napier University, said: “Our new teacher education programme will be designed by teachers, for teachers.”

Professor Petra Wend, principal of Queen Margaret University, said: “Our new teacher education programmes align strongly with QMU’s values, experience and strategy of delivering a portfolio of professionally relevant programmes that serve the needs of society.”

Courses will begin at Edinburgh Napier University in August 2019 and Queen Margaret University in September 2019. The government will provide £1.28 million over the next three financial years to support the initial set-up.

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow Tes on Twitter and like Tes on Facebook