Home economics is “at serious risk of disappearing” from secondary schools, a Scottish teaching union has said after a survey to gauge the health of the subject.
SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson, whose union will address the subject’s troubles at its annual conference this week, said: “Home economics as a subject is at serious risk of disappearing from secondary school timetables, as a result not only of the shortage of home economics teachers but also because of the lack of support from local authorities and headteachers.”
It finds that 93 per cent of respondents’ schools have home economics on the timetable but 7 per cent do not offer the subject, while 37 per cent have seen a reduction in home economics teachers over the past three years.
“Home economics is an essential part of the school broad-based curriculum, but pupils’ experience is variable across Scotland,” said Mr Searson.
In S1, the survey finds that pupils’ experience of home economics varies from 9 per cent having no involvement with the subject, 45 per cent having one hour a week, 44 per cent having two hours and 6 per cent receiving over two hours.
“This inconsistency is replicated throughout each of the year groups in schools,” said Mr Searson.
He added: “Home economics has been for far too long regarded as the ‘poor relation’ in the school curriculum. It has been often seen as less important in the rush for exam success or too expensive in terms of teacher time and financial resources.”
In July 2021, the Scottish government said councils would receive £6 million to “waive core curriculum charges”, including materials for home economics.
Mr Searson said that home economic teachers are typically not replaced when they leave, putting extra pressure on the subject.
The SSTA survey also suggested that 43 per cent of home economics teachers do not have any technician or auxiliary support and that this support varied from half a day to full-time assistance. Nearly a third of respondents have seen this support reduce in the past three years.
Mr Searson said that both the Scottish government and local authorities must do something to help home economics, adding: “Headteachers must be given the financial support and encouragement to ensure the future of home economics in our secondary schools.”
The SSTA annual conference, being held in Crieff this Friday and Saturday, will hear from the union’s salaries and conditions of service committee that members are “alarmed by the inconsistent approach by local authorities to the place of home economics in the curriculum and the failure to ensure that all pupils...in secondary schools have their entitlement to home economics fulfilled”.
It will also note that the “excessive workload” of home economics teachers is “often ignored by local authorities”, leading to concerns that there may be “discrimination of these specialist and predominantly female teachers”.
The SSTA conference is expected to call for the Scottish government to bring about:
A major review of home economics and its place in the curriculum.
A major recruitment programme for home economics teachers.
More trained technician support for home economics.
A commitment from the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers that home economics teachers’ workload will be recognised, and “measures adopted to ensure that the exploitation of home economics teachers ceases”.
One survey respondent said that “trying to teach a full timetable of 27 periods per week as well as ordering food, preparing it, doing laundry, filling up soap, paper towels, etc - as well as the decrease in behaviour and respect - is taking its toll on many home economics teachers”, adding: “I am personally on my knees and my mental health is suffering terribly.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We expect local authorities and schools, who are responsible for setting their own curriculum, to meet the needs of the young people they serve and deliver education and learning on food, nutrition, health and textiles.
“We continue to offer bursaries of £20,000 for career changers to do teacher training in the Stem subjects, including home economics, where the demand for teachers is at its greatest.”
School Leaders Scotland president Jon Reid said that headteachers had “long recognised the important contribution that home economics makes to the curriculum”, and that “it is an essential component of health and wellbeing programmes”. Given that “food and drink and sustainable tourism are two of Scotland’s key growth sectors”, home economics also has “an important part to play within a school’s Developing the Young Workforce strategy”.
He added that it was ”recognised that in some schools, in some parts of the country, it is indeed difficult to recruit into home economics vacancies”, and that “some schools will have made temporary adjustments to their curriculum and delivery to accommodate this”.
But he also said: “The availability of these subject specialists is improving, which we hope will continue in line with the work of the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group, in order to satisfy an increased demand for the subject from young people which is strongly advocated by Scotland’s headteachers”.
He added: “There are also examples of very creative partnerships that exist between partner organisations and further education providers, ensuring appropriate pathways for progression, delivery of the subject and extracurricular experiences for young people.”
Other SSTA survey comments include:
“Home economics has had to be removed from the S1 curriculum...Ironically, we have staff and auxiliary help but no accommodation so the home economics curriculum has been devastated.”
“I have some school assistant support, but I am completely exhausted by the end of the week. Plenty of pupils wish to take the subject but there [are] not enough staff to enable this.”
“Our department used to have six full-time home economics staff members...We now only have two full-time members of staff. My feeling is that the department is getting run down due to a lack of specialist teachers available [and because] it is perceived as an expensive subject, eg, cost of food/repairs to equipment.”
“The following courses have been removed [from the department]: health and food technology and fashion and textiles. We now only teach mainly hospitality - that was not part of my degree.”
“Our auxiliary is currently on long-term absence [so] my colleague and I are usually spending per week at least 10-15 hours extra on the following: food ordering; lifting and putting away vast numbers of crates [of food deliveries]; stock control; food prep; weighing and measuring; shopping for food - at night in our own time; cleaning out of fridges etc; laundry...we, therefore, do not have time to carry out any development work, completion of tracking, reporting etc. This all must be done in our own time at night.”
“Home economics is well supported in our school. Although the number of teachers has reduced over the years, this is largely due to staff moving to other schools, promotions, etc and a lack of available home economics teachers. Management here understands the value and the need for practical subjects to be included in the curriculum.”
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