Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf has admitted that rising classroom violence, workload pressures and poor job prospects are “some of the reasons” for the high rate of attrition among probationer teachers this year.
Last week, Tes Scotland published figures showing 3,161 probationer teachers were allocated a place on the Teacher Induction Scheme in the spring of last year but by January this year - less than halfway through induction - there were just 2,602 left, representing a drop of 559, or 18 per cent.
The Teacher Induction Scheme guarantees university initial teacher education (ITE) graduates in Scotland one year of teaching experience in a school before they become fully qualified.
Official figures suggest this year’s attrition rate is significantly higher than before the Covid pandemic.
Probationer dropout rate
For example, 13 per cent of the 2018-19 cohort of probationers dropped out in a period spanning approximately a year and a half, from allocation in spring 2018 to the 2019 teacher census.
This year, the fall in probationer numbers is steeper, at 18 per cent, even though the period of time covered is far shorter.
When quizzed on the figures by Conservative MSP Jamie Greene at First Minister’s Questions in Scottish Parliament, Mr Yousaf said that the number of probationers on the scheme did “fluctuate throughout the year due to deferrals and withdrawals”.
The first minister said that these occurred for a variety of reasons including medical reasons, personal reasons or extensions to the ITE qualification.
However, when Mr Greene said the EIS teaching union believed the “harsh realities” of teaching were turning probationers off the job - including increased workload, less support for teachers and pupils, a lack of permanent secure jobs and “rising violence and abuse” - Mr Yousaf responded by saying “many of the reasons” Mr Greene gave were “absolutely right”.
The first minister added: “Violence in schools is an issue, in particular, that is high in our mind and high in the mind of the teaching profession.”
Mr Yousaf said the government was looking to support schools address violence with new guidance, which stemmed from the behaviour summits held last year.
Making teaching an attractive profession
He also said the government was trying to ensure that teaching was an attractive profession. New teachers in Scotland, he said, were the best paid in the UK.
Mr Yousaf added that the Strategic Board for Teacher Education - which includes representatives from teaching unions, headteachers’ organisations, government, councils and university schools of education - was looking at “issues of recruitment, increasing support for early career teachers and also raising the profile of teaching as a valued profession”.
For the latest Scottish education news, analysis and features delivered directly to your inbox, sign up to Tes magazine’s The Week in Scotland newsletter
