A CRISIS in teacher recruitment is set to force nursery teachers to take classes in primary schools, according to one council.
Clackmannanshire Council set out the possible scenario as it prepares for staff shortages when children return in the autumn.
As well as moving teachers out of nursery it also warned some schools in the area may be “unable to run classes for certain year groups”.
In addition, some children may be turned away from their catchment area schools because class size limits would be breached if they were accepted.
Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, said warnings over teacher shortages were now having a severe impact.
She said: “We have hard-hitting predictions which could happen within a matter of months and there will undoubtedly be negative consequences for children.
“Parents will be alarmed that things have got so bad that nursery teachers may have to be drafted in and entire age groups in some primary schools may have to be sent elsewhere.
“This is the consequence of an SNP government which has had a boom and bust approach to teacher training.”
However, a Scottish Government spokeswoman stressed nursery teachers registered with the General Teaching Council for Scotland were qualified to teach in primary.
She said: “Local authorities are free to assign staff as needed and it is not uncommon for teachers to work across both nursery and primary school settings as required.
“We recognise that some councils have faced challenges with teacher numbers which is why we are taking a number of actions to help recruit and retain teachers and widen the pool of available talent.
“We have worked with local authorities to increase teacher numbers this year, with an additional 253 teachers in Scottish classrooms and we are also increasing student teacher places for the sixth consecutive year.”
The government said new fast-track routes were also being explored to increase the availability of teachers more quickly.?
The warning from Clackmannanshire was sent from the council’s chief education officer Anne Pearson.
She said schools across Clackmannanshire would have to find room for 90 extra pupils and would therefore need to employ 13 additional teachers.
However, the council has already brought in 25 teachers in February in a process during which the council “appointed all applicants who met our minimum standard”.
The report adds: “We have carried out a risk assessment and identified that there could be a major impact on school improvements and closing the gaps.
“Senior managers in schools will have to cover for absences, which would take them away from their leadership roles.
“It could be the case that some schools may have to turn catchment children away and offer alternative places in other schools.”
The note said a level of teacher absences beyond what was normal could lead to schools being unable to run classes for certain year groups.
It added: “The service may have to move nursery teachers out of nursery classes into primary classes.”
The paper said actions to address shortage could include “exploring recruitment beyond Scotland”.
Teacher recruitment has been a concern across Scotland with particular shortages in rural schools. There are also concerns that the quality of nursery education has suffered as numbers of qualified teachers have been reduced to save money.
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