An open letter to education secretary John Swinney from “a Scottish teacher” has been shared widely online, highlighting concerns over a raft of issues in the country’s schools, including pay and workload.
The primary teacher says “I love my job”, but felt compelled to write about “why so many teachers currently want to leave our profession”.
The handwritten letter was sent to Radio Forth, which said it had now been shared on other platforms and had gone viral.
The writer has “felt a growing sense of concern over the last three or four years that the job I love is becoming increasingly impossible to do effectively, for various reasons”.
These include pay, the “drastically underfunded” inclusion policy and a culture in which “blame is being laid at the feet of teachers”.
The letter adds: “One of the most concerning and frustrating issues with the state of the education system is the inability to be able to speak out about the problems we face.”
In a response to the radio station, Mr Swinney said: “Education is our number-one priority and I recognise the pressures and challenges facing teachers, such as those highlighted by this individual’s experiences. That is why we have taken action to reduce teacher workloads, clarifying and simplifying the curriculum framework and removing unnecessary bureaucracy.”
