THE number of teachers in our schools has been one of the most hotly contested issues in Scottish education since the SNP came to power in 2007.
One of the boldest commitments in the party’s manifesto was to slash class sizes, with the Scottish Government expecting councils to maintain teacher numbers at nearly 53,000 to help deliver its policy.
However, faced with declining pupil rolls in some parts of the country many local authorities opted to axe teachers in the face of budget cuts.
By 2015 numbers had fallen to about 48,000 and the SNP finally decided to get tough as pressure from teaching unions and opposition parties mounted.
In a circular to local government that year, ministers instructed councils to maintain teacher numbers at existing levels as a minimum.
But, while the measure helped to halt the slide it provoked a backlash from councils who argued it was unfair to force them to maintain teacher numbers when rolls were falling.
The policy also impacted disproportionately on other parts of the education workforce, such as support staff, because savings could not be made from the teacher workforce.
In a series of circulars to councils since then the Government has dropped its hard-line stance and now requires them only to maintain overall pupil-teacher ratios of 13.7, opening the door for more cuts in councils where the figure is lower.
Given the pressure on ministers over teacher numbers, figures published earlier this year from the September 2017 school census were welcomed with open arms.
The census showed there are now 51,513 teachers in primary, secondary and nursery schools after an increase of 543 compared to 2016.
The report also highlighted the fact that 666 new full-time equivalent staff had been employed using money from the Scottish Attainment Fund, which was set up to help close the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils.
John Swinney, the Education Secretary, seized on the increase as an endorsement of the fund saying the decision to give headteachers more money was paying off.
“Hundreds of additional teachers are now in classrooms benefitting pupils the length and breadth of Scotland as a result of that decision,” he said at the time.
However, figures released to The Herald under freedom of information legislation show that at least one third of the new members of staff are on temporary contracts.
The proportion would be far greater were it not for Glasgow City Council’s decision to give permanent contracts to more than 200 of the staff it employs under the fund.
That has now raised questions from opposition politicians and teaching unions over the permanence of the new members of staff and the longevity of the work they do.
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