MSPs are calling on the Scottish government to intervene to prevent teacher job losses.
The call follows Glasgow City Council’s plans to cut 450 teacher jobs over three years, as revealed by Tes Scotland in February.
Scottish Labour forced the vote on cuts to teacher numbers in the first set of opposition debates for John Swinney - the new first minister, who served as education secretary under Nicola Sturgeon - and the first since the end of the Bute House Agreement and the government majority in Holyrood.
Speaking to a Labour motion highlighting concern around potential teacher cuts - which was passed in the Scottish Parliament late this afternoon - the party’s education spokesperson, Pam Duncan-Glancy said teachers were expected to do more work with less time, money and support.
‘Failure to prioritise education’
She hit out at the government’s record on education, saying teacher job cuts were “a consequence of 17 years of failure to properly fund local authorities and reflect an abject failure of successive cabinet secretaries, including the first minister, to prioritise education”.
It was time to “stand up for teachers” and the next generation, she said, adding: “That’s why we brought this debate today and that’s why we call on the government to act to recognise that local authorities need sustainable funding, to publish a plan to address gaps in the teaching and education workforce, to protect staff in schools and, crucially, to prevent teacher job losses.”
The Labour motion was backed by the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. The Greens’ power-sharing deal with the SNP ended last month, triggering the resignation of Humza Yousaf, the former first minister.
Conservative education spokesperson Liam Kerr said teacher numbers were down by more than 1,000 since the SNP came to power. He accused the Scottish government of seeming to be “backing out of yet another manifesto commitment, this time to recruit an extra 3,500 teachers”.
Doubt about the delivery of the pledge follows Mr Swinney’s debut at First Minister’s Questions last week where, when pressed on the issue, he said he had to “live in the real world of the public finances available to me”.
Uncertainty over student teachers
Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie questioned what would happen to the student teachers going through initial teacher education if the government failed to deliver the pledge, given that university recruitment targets have been increased as a result.
Would these new teachers “be facing the dole queue as a result of this failure to plan adequately?” he asked.
Ross Greer, the Greens’ education spokesperson, said fewer teachers clearly “will take us backwards”. However, teacher numbers were “an issue of finance before it’s an issue of education”. He said progress would only come if council tax was reformed.
“We either have to cut public services or raise revenue,” Mr Greer said.
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth maintained that she would “fervently defend” the government’s policy to protect teacher numbers, and described teachers as “the beating heart of our education system”.
She also said that she was “resolutely committed” to delivering the government’s pledge to reduce class-contact time for teachers, adding: “That is what is going to make a difference for Scotland’s teachers.”
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