Teacher numbers fall by almost 1,000

25/03/2009

Teaching union says Scottish Government policy "not working".

Teacher numbers in Scotland have fallen by almost 1,000, new government figures show.

The number working in the country's publically-funded school and nursey estate is 975 fewer than in 2007, the dismay of teaching unions and opposition parties.

The SNP's Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop insisted the pupil-to-teacher ratio remained in good shape, and pointed out that just four local authorities - Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Aberdeen - were responsible for more than half the fall.

But Ronnie Smith, general secretary of Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, is not satisfied.

"Pupil to teacher ratios remain unchanged, which highlights that the Scottish Government's strategy of simply relying on falling pupil numbers and holding teacher numbers in order to lower class sizes is just not working," he said.

Labour called for Hyslop to be sacked over the drop in teachers, with shadow education secretary Rhona Brankin saying "the bell had rung" on her role.

"It is disgraceful that in the past 12 months, under Fiona Hyslop's watch, Scotland's schools have been haemorrhaging teachers," said Ms Brankin.

Ms Hyslop said class size reduction remained a priority. "These figures demonstrate that, for the second year in a row, teacher numbers are delivering a historic low pupil-teacher ratio in Scotland - in both primary and secondary schools. Scottish pupil-teacher ratios are by far the lowest in the UK, and primary class sizes are also at a record low in Scotland."