Scottish Government urged to act following re-posting of hundreds of teacher vacancies
Last updated 8th Jan 2023
More than 600 teaching vacancies in Scotland had to be re-advertised last year, figures show.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats found 636 posts were relisted in 2021/22 and is urging ministers to take action to recruit more teachers to fill the gap.
A vacancy for a technical education teacher at Alford Academy in Aberdeenshire was re-advertised 11 times.
And the region's Ellon Academy re-posted a similar teaching post seven times, while Banff Academy failed to recruit a maths teacher six times.
Positions for head teachers were also re-advertised in North Lanarkshire.
Need to recruit in rural locations
Liberal Democrat Education spokesman, Willie Rennie, said the Scottish Government should introduce incentives to recruit in rural locations.
He said: "Qualified teachers are enduring years of short-term, zero-hours contracts yet some schools are advertising roles 11 times without success.
"There seems to be a surplus of teachers in some parts of the country and in some subjects but an acute shortage in others including rural areas and in subjects like maths and technology.
"It will be impossible for young people to reach their potential if we can't find them teachers. And teachers won't reach their potential if they lurch from one short-term contract to the next.
"Scottish Liberal Democrats have set out a series of proposals to give three-year packages to probationers who are willing to take on hard-to-fill roles, as well as offering 'teaching premiums' to reward the best teachers in school with the greatest need.”
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: "Local authorities are responsible for teacher recruitment, and they have autonomy to provide incentives to attract teachers to their area.
"We will continue to do everything we can to help them maximise the number of teaching jobs, including permanent posts.
"In 2022/23 we will provide councils with specific funding of £145.5 million per year to support the school workforce and help provide sustained employment to teachers.
"We provide bursaries of £20,000 to encourage more teachers into STEM subjects, where the demand for teachers is greatest and, through the Teacher Induction Scheme, we provide incentives of up to £8,000 to encourage probationer teachers to move to more rural areas to help meet recruitment challenges.
"The Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities to support them to address recruitment issues."