New teachers face jobs crisis

Further indications that it is not just in the private sector that jobs are scarce, emerged last month from evidence gathered in a survey by the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Aimed at recently-qualified teachers it revealed that only a fifth of the probationers had a full-time permanent contract, down from over 30% a year earlier.

Over a quarter (27.5%) were not in employment and the rest were making do with part-time, temporary and supply work. The survey results came as the Scottish Government was reviewing its policy on cutting class sizes. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: “Any withdrawal from this manifesto commitment would be a betrayal of both teachers and pupils.”

The EIS Scottish teachers’ union warned that the collapse of stable jobs for newly qualified teachers is having a damaging impact on education and limiting opportunities for pupils.

General secretary Ronnie Smith said it was a massive waste “for these new teachers to be left unemployed or compelled to seek other jobs”.

The figures help explain why there are now almost 2,500 fewer teachers in Scottish classrooms than was the case two years ago.