Douglas Ross says he'll invest £550m in Scottish education
He wants 3000 new teachers if the Tories win next year's election
Last updated 18th Sep 2020
DOUGLAS ROSS is unveiling plans to invest 550-million pounds to boost teacher numbers in Scotland – if the Scottish Tories win next May’s Holyrood election.
The party leader says he wants to recruit 3000 over the course of the next parliament
The pledge for the teachers would be paid through Barnett Consequentials from the UK Government’s levelling up strategy and the savings from delivering key projects on time.
Mr Ross said: “Over these last six years, Scotland has been stuck debating the same argument instead of building for the future.
“In spite of the First Minister’s infamous pledge to judge her on education, our schools are stuck down the list of SNP priorities.
“Before the pandemic, Scotland’s schools were struggling from the SNP cutting teacher numbers by nearly 3000. Multi-level teaching was rife and subject choice cuts were limiting pupils’ ambitions.
“Those avoidable tensions are now ramping up. There are not enough teachers to deliver smaller classes and meet the demands of absences related to Covid.
“So, the Scottish Conservatives will commit to fixing the SNP’s mess. Over the next parliament, our plans would deliver 3000 more teachers to restore local schools to where they once were.
“The focus of the next six years must be schools, not separation.”
The Scottish Government says teacher numbers are at their highest in a decade with more than 1100 recently recruited to support schools recover from the pandemic.