New teachers are abandoning the profession because they are not being offered secure jobs, Scotland’s largest teaching union has said.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said many newly-qualified staff were only being given short contracts.
The union is urging the Scottish government to increase council funding to pay for more permanent jobs.
The Scottish government said it was “taking strong action” to protect increased teacher numbers.
In a letter to First Minister Humza Yousaf, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said high numbers of temporary contracts had “serious implications” for Scotland’s schools.
She said members had contacted the union over the summer months “in desperation” at the prospect of no work when the new term begins.
Although local authorities are responsible for teacher recruitment, Ms Bradley said councils needed ring-fenced funding to allow the more permanent posts.
Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, Ms Bradley said: “In the short term it’s about funding, we shouldn’t have teachers sitting at home when we have 34% of children and young people in our schools now with additional support needs.
“When we have hundreds of thousands of them impacted by poverty and that having a negative impact on their educational experience and their outcomes.
“And we are still recovering from a pandemic, this is a time where we need to see more teachers employed permanently in our education system, not fewer.”
She added the long-term staffing strategy for schools had “not served them well”.
Image source, PA Media
The EIS ended long-running strikes after accepting a pay deal in March
The union highlighted that many new staff had entered teacher training following Scottish government recruitment drives in 2016 and 2017.
In her letter to Mr Yousaf, Ms Bradley said: “I ask again that you give this matter urgent consideration and provide additional funding to local authorities that is effectively ring-fenced for the recruitment of additional permanently employed teachers.
“As well as looking carefully at teacher workforce planning for the years ahead to ensure stability and sufficiency of teacher staffing.”
Ms Bradley’s letter comes after the EIS accepted a pay deal in March this year to end long-running school strikes.
Teachers received a 7% pay rise backdated to April 2022, with a further 5% awarded and 2% more to come in January.
The EIS, SSTA and NASUWT teaching unions had been in a year-long industrial dispute with councils.
The Scottish government has acted before to stop councils cutting teacher numbers on financial grounds. Councils get much of their money from the Scottish government. It is possible to earmark some of that for specific purposes.
The government has warned before it could withhold or recoup funding if a council cuts teacher posts or spends ring-fenced money on something else.
The EIS argument is, essentially, that a similar mechanism could be used to help ensure new teachers are given permanent jobs rather than temporary ones.
The worry about undue numbers in temporary posts is part of a longstanding union concern about ensuring teaching is an attractive profession – in part to help address areas where there are recruitment difficulties. Some schools in rural areas may struggle to fill posts or get a good field of candidates.
The Scottish government said its Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of education bodies, was looking at the challenges around recruitment and retention of teachers.
This includes geographical and subject-specific issues and improving support for early career teachers.
A spokesperson added: “While our teachers are employed by local authorities and not the Scottish government, we are taking strong action to protect increased teacher numbers – supporting councils with an additional £145.5m in this year’s budget, which assures funding and removes this as a barrier to permanent contracts.
“Over the past 10 years the number of teachers in permanent posts has remained stable at over 80%, and since December 2014 the number of school teachers has increased by 8%, from 49,521 to 53,459 in December 2022.”
