HEADTEACHERS have called for new powers to hand pick teaching and support staff for their schools in a bid to boost performance in the classroom.
The Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) said the move would allow school leaders to build up their own teams best suited to improving standards.
Currently councils control the recruitment of teaching staff with headteachers involved in the process, but not necessarily given the final say.
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Greg Dempster, general secretary of the AHDS, stressed that while calling for greater control over recruitment, headteachers did not want to be responsible for the human resources work that went along with hiring and firing of staff.
“Recruitment is done centrally and teachers are then allocated to schools so they don’t get to advertise and interview for specific vacancies," he said.
“Schools can have teachers placed with them and then they find they are not the ones they would have picked for their staff complement or for dealing with the pupils they have.
“Headteachers can be part of the general recruitment process for the authority, but not for their specific schools.”
Ministers want to give more power to headteachers, but have also made it a priority to develop greater engagement with parents.
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Proposed changes include headteachers being handed new powers and schools in the most deprived areas given direct funding from the Scottish Government to reduce the attainment gap.
A spokesman for the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities - which represents the vast majority of Scotland's councils - said their role in recruitment was "invaluable".
“Recruitment can be a tricky issue and the truth is that councils provide a helpful HR service for schools and we work in collaboration with head teachers to ensure that we have the resources required to deliver for the local area," he said.
"Councils role in this is invaluable.”
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) - the country's largest teaching union - said they were open to the prospect of headteachers spearheading the selection of school staff, but suggested senior teachers could also form part of a recruitment panel.
A spokesman said: "Previously, headteachers, and indeed subject principal teachers in secondary, were part of the appointments process for vacancies and this did allow for school contexts to be a greater part of the consideration.
"The move to a more centralised approach by Education Authorities was largely driven by concerns around efficacy and also the need to ensure appointments were demonstrably fair.
"From an EIS perspective these objectives are not mutually exclusive and councils should be free to explore a full range of options.”
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The AHDS suggestion came in a written submission to a Scottish Government consultation on changes to the way schools are run.
The Scottish Government is planning to introduce new educational regions through which councils would be expected to collaborate on the delivery of the functions left in their control.
The proposals would see millions of pounds of funding given directly to headteachers as well as the setting up of education regions to “decentralise management”.
But it has sparked concerns that the plan would constitute a "radical departure" from current practice "undermining" the role of local authorities and increasing bureaucracy.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament in September John Swinney, the Education Secretary, said the proposals were founded on the principle that, where possible, decisions should be devolved from local authorities to schools.
Mr Swinney has previously been warned that headteachers could revolt over the plans to hand them significantly more powers amid fears their role could morph into that of "business administrators".
Council and teacher representatives said that the profession was concerned that some of the changes would leave them with less time to devote to education.
The government consultation closes on January 6.
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