“How many teachers are going to lose their jobs in Scotland?” first minister Nicola Sturgeon was asked today in Parliament.
The question from Tory leader Douglas Ross was prompted by proposals that could see up to 800 teaching posts cut and 100 support staff roles lost in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest local authority, as it seeks to plug a funding gap of £68 million.
Closing Glasgow primary schools early on Fridays to help save £51 million in the education budget is also part of the plans, according to papers leaked to the Daily Record newspaper.
A leading teaching union representative in Glasgow said she was “desperately worried” about the proposals.
Mr Ross said during First Minister’s Questions this afternoon that if Glasgow went ahead with the proposals in full, around one in seven school staff would be lost. He also said there had also been reports of plans to reduce teacher numbers in East Ayrshire and that East Renfrewshire was facing “very serious cuts to education”.
He added: “This is what happens when the SNP don’t properly fund councils.”
Ms Sturgeon said: “This, of course, is that time of year when we get lots of reports about savings options that different councils are considering, and opposition parties quite understandably make hay with that, but very often these proposals do not proceed.”
She added that “as my record shows, as indeed my government’s funding to councils demonstrates, I am in favour of more teachers, not fewer teachers”. Mr Ross responded that this “rhetoric” was not matched by a fall in teacher numbers during the SNP’s time in power.
He said: “Will the first minister tell us, as a result of her budget choices and costly mistakes, how many teachers are going to lose their jobs?”
Ms Sturgeon responded that in 2022-23 the Scottish government had “provided £145 million of additional funding to local authorities to employ up to 2,400 more teachers and 500 more classroom assistants”. She added that that funding was “being protected in the budget that we have put forward for the next financial year”.
As Tes Scotland reported this week, however, councils have been saying that they are being told to draw from this £145 million to fund teacher pay rises.
Ms Sturgeon also said that the current number of primary teachers in Scotland is at one of the highest levels since she was at primary school in the 1970s and 1980s, while the overall pupil-teacher ratio was the lowest in the UK.
Mr Ross also said that pupils were “getting a raw deal” during the ongoing teacher pay strikes. Fellow Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr criticised education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville for showing “no energy, no urgency to get involved and resolve the teacher strike”, and asked the first minister if she would “step in and end the strike”.
Ms Sturgeon replied by accusing the Tories of “absolutely staggering” hypocrisy as “teacher strikes loom in England”, and the UK government sought to “take away the right to strike of public sector workers”.
The Glasgow proposals reported today could also see primary schools closing early on Fridays as part of the effort to save £51 million in the city council’s education budget, according to a document leaked to the Daily Record.
Glasgow City Council, which is led by the SNP, is facing a £68 million shortfall for the year ahead and will set its budget next month.
The document says that £22.5 million could be saved by revising the way primary and secondary schools are staffed, including many more composite classes, with 397 teaching posts affected. A proposal to reduce teacher numbers by closing schools early on Fridays, affecting 324 roles, would save £18.5 million.
If all the options came into force, around 800 teaching posts would be at risk, as would the roles of more than 100 support for learning staff, the Daily Record reported.
Susan Quinn, Glasgow Local Association secretary of the EIS teaching union, told the PA news agency: “We are desperately worried about the impact of cuts on the ability of teaching staff in the city to deliver for the most vulnerable of young people.
“Eight hundred jobs is about 12 per cent of the teachers in a city where young people already have some of the highest challenges to overcome to progress in their lives.
“On the primary pupils’ hours cut, it beggars belief that Glasgow City Council would even consider this.”
Ms Quinn added: “They are challenged to close the attainment gap and make sure pupils get the best life chances but they are considering giving them 2.5 hours fewer than young people across the rest of Scotland.
“It makes no sense and it’s something that would affect teachers’ ability to deliver for the young people that they work so hard for.”
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said: “After the pandemic, we are still in the stage of recovery and a lot of youngsters have missed out on basic learning coming through.
“Talking about cutting back the number of teachers is nonsense at this stage - we should be adding additional teachers - the needs of the youngsters have gone up over the last few years.
“Because of the pandemic, youngsters are potentially up to about two years behind where they should be. If you don’t put extra resources in, all you’re going to do is make that even worse [and] if you cut teachers, you are cutting young people’s life chances down.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “As part of the annual budget-setting process, a cross-party group of councillors works with officers to scrutinise and develop options on where savings and investment could be considered.
“Officers also regularly update a financial forecast, taking into account inflation and the latest information on national settlements.
“The financial challenge facing the council this year is exceptionally tough, with savings of around £68 million required, even before pressure on social work and care services are taken into account.”
The spokesperson added: “Political groups will present their budget proposals next month and it is for them to decide whether they wish to include any of these options.”
