John Swinney accused of ‘failing’ children after fall in teacher numbers

John Swinney has defended his government’s record on education after being accused of “failing” children by Anas Sarwar and Russell Findlay.

Figures published earlier this week showed teacher numbers had decreased by 621 in the last year, while the number of pupils with additional support needs (ASN) is now about 40 per cent.

The Scottish Labour leader called for a “change of direction” from the Scottish Government, adding that “under this SNP government, Scotland’s young people are not being given the opportunities that they deserve”.

Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, said teacher numbers should have risen by 3,500 if the SNP had delivered a 2021 manifesto commitment. He also raised concerns about violence in schools.

The first minister pledged to “restore” teacher numbers to previous levels, before going on to highlight higher levels of attainment among Scotland’s pupils and a closing of the attainment gap on “positive destinations”.

The government’s Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels statistics were published earlier this week, showing across-the-board increases in the number of pupils achieving the expected levels of literacy and numeracy.

While the figures showed a slight narrowing of the literacy attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils, it still stands at a yawning 20.2 percentage points among primary students. For numeracy, the gap increased to 17.4 percentage points.

Among S3 pupils, the numeracy and literacy attainment gap was 12 and 12.7 percentage points, respectively, the narrowest on record.

Other statistics published this week put the number of full-time equivalent teachers in Scotland at 53,412 – a fall of 621 on previous years – though a reduction in pupil numbers means to pupil teacher ratio was stable.

The attendance rate increased to 90.3 per cent from the previous year, but this is the second lowest on record, while the persistent absence rate – pupils absent for more than a tenth of the school year – was 31.4 per cent.

Speaking at FMQs, Sarwar said: “Education was supposed to be this government’s top priority, but it’s clear that John Swinney and the SNP have failed. Does he accept that we need a change of direction from the education secretary and this SNP government?”

And Findlay said: “Our teachers are being expected to do more and more, and this is fuelling a collapse in discipline in our schools… Disruptive pupils know there are no consequences for their actions. Isn’t it time for the SNP to crack down on the behaviour of the minority who are ruining it for the majority?”

The first minister said such behaviour was “completely and utterly intolerable” and the government was “taking forward action” to address it.

But he accused Findlay of trying to “denigrate the achievements made by our educators” and said the Conservative UK Government had made it harder to address the poverty-related attainment gap.

He added: “The government, as party of the budget settlement, has negotiated an agreement with local authorities, in which the government and local authorities will work together to ensure that teacher numbers are restored to 2023 levels, which means that over the course of next year, teacher numbers will increase.”