Teacher shortages 'may force some schools to close in Aberdeen'
Aberdeen City Council has warned it may be forced to close some schools amid a teacher shortage ''crisis''.
The local authority said there are 134 empty teaching positions in the city and consideration will have to be given to shutting the worst-affected schools after the summer if the number of vacancies continues to grow.
Education Convenor Angela Taylor says in some cases teachers are leaving the city as their partners work in the oil and gas sector and the current downturn means they are having to look to other parts of the country for employment.
The councillor accused First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of leaving Aberdeen to ''twist in the wind''.
She said: ''This is a national problem but there is no doubt that Aberdeen is a special case because of the high cost of living plus the oil and gas crisis. The First Minister seems to concede that this city is a special case but as far as I'm concerned, Aberdeen is being left to twist in the wind given the precious little support we have been given. The SNP Government needs to act decisively and provide a meaningful package of emergency measures which will bring about genuine change. If they continue to ignore our pleas for action, there is a danger that after the summer holidays we may have to consider closing those schools worst affected by this crisis.''
The council said the number of empty teaching positions has doubled over the last eight months. Primary schools are the worst hit with 68 vacancies.
Ms Taylor said she wrote to Ms Sturgeon in February and more recently to new education secretary John Swinney, who she said declined the Labour-led administration's request for a meeting.
She said: ''The Government's manifesto claims that education is a priority for them, but without meaningful action to back up that claim, these are little more than weasel words and, as things stand, Aberdeen remains the SNP's 'forgotten city'.''
The Scottish Government said it wanted all schools to have access to the right number of teachers so every child has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.
A spokesman said: ''Last year we invested £51 million to safeguard teacher posts and increased student teacher numbers in each of the last five years, specifically targeting places at the University of Aberdeen. Through the Transition Training Fund we are committed to helping oil and gas sector staff move to a career in teaching, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, and we are supporting the University of Aberdeen's distance learning teacher education programme, which allows council employees to retrain as teachers while staying in work. Mr Swinney will be in Aberdeen on Monday to hear directly from education directors, head teachers and teachers from Aberdeen and other parts of the north of Scotland to hear about the challenges they're facing and opportunities moving forward.''