Scotland’s major teaching and support staff unions have issued a collective call alongside parents’ groups for the Scottish Government and local authorities to “end the national scandal” of under-funding additional support needs services in schools.

With signatures from five teaching unions, three support staff unions and three parent groups, the joint statement issued on Wednesday morning made it clear that stakeholders do not feel schools are adequately equipped to meet the needs of students with additional support needs (ASN).

As a result, parent, staff and student wellbeing is suffering, the statement claims.

“We believe that the Scottish Government has not provided sufficient funding to allow local authorities to make adequate and efficient provision for the additional support required for each child or young person with additional support needs. 

“The current climate of under-investment in Additional Support for Learning is now having an impact across the whole learning population and is detrimental to the wellbeing of children and young people; the wellbeing of school staff; and the educational experience for many pupils.

“The Scottish Government and education authorities must face up to the challenge and invest in Scottish Education to deliver the promises of inclusive practice made to young people and their families twenty years ago and which continues to be framed in current legislation.  

“We call on the Scottish Government and all education authorities to put in place the requisite additional staffing and resources to fully implement the relevant legal duties and commitments in practice for all pupils with additional support needs, and in so doing, improve the quality of education provision and wellbeing for those children and young people, and improve the working conditions, health, safety and wellbeing of the teachers and support staff who work with them.”

The joint statement follows closely on the heels of an inquiry from the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee, which found that a majority of pupils with ASN are not having their needs met.

Read more: ASN pupils are facing an "intolerable" lack of support

The committee’s month-long inquiry took evidence from parents, carers, teachers, social workers and healthcare providers, and many pointed to concerns that schools are understaffed and not properly equipped to provide for the complex needs of ASN pupils.

Writing in support of the joint statement, Leanne McGuire, chair of the Glasgow City Parents Group said that the underfunding impacts more than just the families pupils directly in need of additional support.

“It's heartbreaking to watch dedicated teachers and staff struggle to meet the needs of almost 40% of their students without the necessary support.

“We urgently need the Scottish Government to bridge the gap between policy and practice to ensure all our children receive the education and care they deserve."

Gavin Yates, Executive Director of Connect parents group, said that the Scottish Government should step in and provide adequate support for ASN because parents’ rights to ASN provision is “enshrined by law and needs to be properly upheld.”

Read more: Jenny Gilruth backs mainstreaming for Scottish ASN pupils

Andrea Bradley, General Secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, which represents the majority of Scottish teachers, said that the government and local authorities can longer “sweep the issue under the carpet.”

"The under-funding and under-resourcing of ASN provision is a national scandal which must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

“The lack of ASN resourcing and staffing is letting down the large and growing number of young people in need of additional support, a very large number of whom also live in poverty, piling untold pressure on already over-burdened teaching and support staff, and disrupting the learning and teaching environments across our schools.”

Although teachers are often the faces of the work that takes place in schools, support staff are essential to daily operations and child welfare. Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland’s senior organiser in public services, said that support staff are often the frontlines of ASN provision and their workloads are approaching an intolerable level.

“Our members are providing crucial support for pupils with additional needs but are coming under intolerable stress and increasing pressure.   

“The service is underfunded and classroom assistants are being asked to hold it together without adequate resource or support from management.

“Their work is vital to the effective running of our schools and the life chances of hundreds of young Scots. That demands urgent recognition and far more support.”

Read more: Pupils with additional support needs are being failed

Lilian Macer, Scotland Regional Secretary for the largest support staff union UNISON, pointed to evidence that the number of pupils with ASN in Scotland has reached an all-time high and that members witness pupils struggling daily.

“The signs are that the number of pupils identified as having ASN is only set to grow, yet funding levels and resources are already woefully inadequate to meet even the current number of pupils with additional needs, let alone even more.

“UNISON members are the army of classroom assistants who support our children with additional learning needs.

“They tell us that too many children attend mainstream schools but are not getting the education they deserve.”

In addition to the inquiry on ASN provision conducted by Holyrood’s education committee, there have been recent questions raised over the legitimacy of Scotland’s mainstreaming policy for school pupils.

Although Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth told the committee that she still believes in the presumption of mainstreaming – accommodating ASN pupils in mainstream schools barring exceptional circumstances – she recognised that ASN provision requires funding and suggested that the financial burden should not fall only on the education sector.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:

“While it is for local councils to determine the most appropriate educational provision, the Scottish Government is committed to improving outcomes for young people with additional support needs.

“Spending on additional support for learning reached a record high of £926 million in the latest available figures [2022-23] to help address growing demand in this area. Through our continued investment of £15 million per year, the number of FTE additional pupils support staff has also increased by 725 (4.4%), bringing the total number of support staff in Scotland in 2023 to 17,330."