Falkirk Council will consider a proposal to reduce teaching hours and cut teacher numbers as it faces a "significant budget shortfall".

Councillors are being asked to approve a plan which would reduce the weekly learning hours in secondary schools from 26 hours 40 minutes to 24 hours 45 minutes per week to save £2.14m, the weekly hours in primary schools from 25 to 22.5 to save £3.88m and to introduce an 'asymmetric school week' for all Falkirk schools to save £250,000.

An asymmetric week would mean longer days from Monday to Thursday and a shorter day on Friday, saving a quarter of a million pounds due to reduced catering provision and energy use.

Under the plans 91 teaching cuts would be implemented, around 5% of the current total number, to be "managed through natural turnover".

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The council said alternatives to such cuts were rejected as they would have "a negative impact on educational outcomes compared to the proposed changes".

The report submitted to the council states that Falkirk Council is in a "critical" financial situation, with a five-year financial gap of £56.4m.

Children's services accounts for 59.8% of the council's £465m budget for 2024-25, with the proposals stating that if no savings are found other services such as place and transformation, communities, and corporate services would have to be reduced by 70%.

The planned changes would, according to the proposals, save Falkirk Council approximately £6.28m of which £6.03m would come from reducing the number of teaching staff.

An equality impact assessment negative impact on the following groups: age, disability, sex, ethnicity, poverty and care experienced, which will attempt to be mitigated.

Agenda item 6, the Education Service Redesign (Learning Week) Proposal, will be considered at a meeting of Falkirk Council on October 3.

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: "The plans to cut teacher numbers and the length of the learning week in Falkirk would be hugely damaging for young people and for teachers alike. Young people in Falkirk would be placed at a significant disadvantage, compared to their peers in schools in other areas of the country, with more than a year of schooling lost in total over the course of their school career.

"In a local authority area where levels of poverty and deprivation are high, and the poverty-related attainment gap remains a significant challenge, these cost-cutting measures would make the young people of Falkirk pay a heavy and painful price for political and budgetary decisions taken by successive Falkirk Council administrations that are not in the interests of providing young people quality education.

"It is not too late for Falkirk Council to stop these cuts. Councillors should reject these profoundly damaging proposals, and commit to ensuring the best possible educational experience for all young people across Falkirk by expanding, not cutting the size of the teacher workforce and protecting learning hours equitably to those provided by all other local authorities across Scotland.”

Jon Reid, Director of Education, said: "The report acknowledges the complexities involved in balancing the need for cost savings with the imperative to maintain educational quality, but it argues that the proposed changes offer the best path forward.

“If approved, the Council will closely monitor the impact of the changes on pupil attainment, well-being, and educational outcomes. A formal review process would be implemented to ensure any issues are addressed promptly.

“Ultimately, it is for elected members to decide the options to be taken at the meeting."