News Release
Updated: Thursday, March 19, 2009 | 
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DECLINE IN TEACHER NUMBERS CONTINUES UNABATED
New official Scottish Government figures have shown a worrying downward trend in the number of teachers employed in Scotland's schools. The Public Sector Employment Statistics for the 4th quarter of 2008, published yesterday (18 March), show a drop of 900 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers compared to the same quarter (Q4) of 2007. This is now at its lowest level since the equivalent quarter in 2005.
Commenting on the new figures, EIS General Secretary Ronnie Smith said, “Everyone should be deeply concerned by this latest cut in teacher numbers. The Scottish Government promised that there would be year on year progress in cutting class sizes. However, just 18 of Scotland's 32 local authorities have made any progress at all on this commitment. The Scottish Government also pledged to maintain teacher numbers at least to 2007 levels. Instead, we now see a 1.5% reduction in the number of teachers in our schools. And all of this has happened before Councils start to implement an additional raft of service cuts in the new financial year that begins next month.”
Mr Smith warned that the Scottish Government is running out of time to stop and then reverse this damaging trend. Pointing to these statistics as confirmation that the Scottish Government's ‘Concordat' with Councils is failing, Mr Smith said, “As well as their duty to keep their manifesto promises, the Scottish Government should also understand that the successful implementation of the new Curriculum for Excellence will be put at risk by cutting the staffing resources available to work on this major reform. Now is the time to invest in education and to give hope to the batch of new teachers who are just beginning their search for employment.”T: +44 (0)131 225 6244, F: +44 (0)131 220 3151, enquiries@eis.org.uk