Lack of probationer teachers in Aberdeenshire is focus of Holyrood debate
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THE lack of teachers moving north to work in Aberdeenshire has again been the focus of debate at Holyrood.
SNP education secretary Jenny Gilruth acknowledged that there is an "insufficient" number of probationers in the area.
However, she added that the government cannot "direct teachers where to go".
Aberdeenshire Council received 16 out of the 66 probationary secondary teachers for this academic year.
The Gordon Schools in Huntly was forced to drop woodwork from the curriculum due to a lack of teachers.
Aberdeenshire West's Conservative MSP Alexander Burnett asked in parliament what the government was doing to stimulate recruitment.
“The Scottish Government is ultimately responsible for making sure pupils across Scotland get the right number of staff and mix of subjects to give them the best education possible," he said.
“It’s not good enough to merely tell Aberdeenshire Council to dig deeper in education budgets to get teachers in post. Staff budgets are tight and there is nowhere feasible to get that money from.
“Jenny Gilruth should be doing some analysis as to what is happening during induction now, and whether more needs to be done to highlight Aberdeenshire as an excellent start to any teaching career – we have many excellent schools to back that up.
“I would suggest that this SNP government is happy to overlook this situation, so long as numbers are fine in the central belt.”
Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford councillor Gwyneth Petrie (SNP) highlighted that a pay rise for teachers has been secured by the Scottish Government, and said the issue is nationwide.
Cllr Petrie said: “Mr Burnett’s comments are political point scoring on a matter that requires much more joint-up thinking.
“The Scottish Government provided a pay increase for teachers, and funded that increase, so that local authorities didn’t have to find the extra cash. Teachers in Scotland are the best paid in the UK, and that is in recognition of the great work they do.
“I agree that we have teacher shortages in the north east, but so does the rest of the country.
"If we want to attract more teachers to Aberdeenshire, then we need to look at the reasons for why they currently don’t choose to, and that is most certainly a local issue to understand and act upon.
"We, as local representatives, need to be shouting loudly about why Aberdeenshire is a great place to work and live.
“If Mr Burnett wants more money to address the problem, I would be interested in where in the budget he plans to take that money from.
"Alternatively, I look forward to hearing him call for an increased budget to the Scottish Government from the UK Government.”
