A new scheme will aim to tackle Scotland’s supply teaching crisis by making it easier to recruit staff across council boundaries.

Local authorities’ body Cosla insisted the initiative was “a very positive step”, although teaching organisations have warned that a more crucial problem - lack of numbers on the ground - will be a “tougher nut to crack”.

Cosla told Tes Scotland that an online “portal” had been developed and it was now in the “active testing phase” with up to eight councils, with full rollout due later this year.

“We see this as a very positive step for both employees and employers,” a spokesman said.

Teachers will register a profile indicating their interest in general supply posts and, when a vacancy becomes available, a council can search across all supply lists and invite those teachers that match the criteria required.

The scheme has passed one major hurdle after being approved by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), the tripartite body comprising unions, local authorities and the Scottish government.

A 2016 SNCT report found “little evidence of authorities working collaboratively to pool resources” and that the majority “would welcome a national supply-booking system”.

‘Analyse the details’

Euan Duncan, president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association, cautiously welcomed the move, with his union having previously called for a national approach to help supply teachers find work more easily.

But he wants to analyse the details and see how the system works in practice, to ensure that the “dice are not loaded in the employers’ favour” and that “teachers work when they need work and employers get teachers when they need them”.

Mr Duncan said that the controversial 2011 teachers’ pay deal “broke the supply system” and that it was crucial to improve supply teachers’ salaries. He added that there were frequent reports of senior pupils having to work without the presence of specialist subject teachers.

Greg Dempster, general secretary of primary school leaders’ body AHDS, said: “Anything that simplifies finding supply staff will be welcomed by AHDS members.

“Time will tell whether this planned system lightens that administrative burden and reduces time-consuming phone calls to staff who are unavailable or already committed.”

He added: “However, this is only one part of the puzzle. The other crucial part is ensuring that there are adequate numbers of supply staff in all parts of Scotland, which seems to be a tougher nut to crack.”

John Stodter, general secretary of education directors’ body ADES, said the new system could be particularly useful in the Central Belt where a teacher might be within reach of six or seven local authorities but would not necessarily appear on all supply lists.

Meanwhile, new intake targets for universities are designed to boost the ranks. A change in calculations, to take into account the high demand for supply teachers, means that seven universities running postgraduate courses for primary teachers will, between them in 2017-18, aim to take on 60 students they would not have recruited otherwise.

Mr Stodter said: “There will be more teachers trained and therefore more teachers available - so that should reduce the risk of any child being sent home because there’s not a teacher to take them.”