Commenting on the on the Scottish Government’s Budget, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:
“While there are some positive headlines in the Budget for education, the devil will be in the detail.
“Ministers had previously pledged up to £200 million annually up to 2026 to tackle the poverty related attainment gap so it appears that the £120million announced today may actually represent a drop in funding.
“While money for ASN is much needed, we believe these funds would be best spent on additional staffing and support workers rather than training existing members of the workforce to become ASN specialists. Ensuring there are appropriate settings and external support for schools in meeting the needs of pupils with ASN is also critical in improving the experiences of these pupils.
“The commitment to maintaining funding for teacher numbers is welcome. However, recruiting and retaining teachers also depends on tackling excessive workloads and violence and abuse from pupils in order to make teaching an attractive and sustainable career for the long term.
“It also depends on councils fulfilling their responsibilities. We already have Glasgow and other authorities which have moved to cut teacher numbers and across Scotland an increasing proportion of post-probationary teachers are on temporary contracts. We need action from the Scottish Government to ensure local authorities are not undermining the promises made in today’s Budget.
“We will be seeking further detail from ministers about what exactly the ‘Invest to Save’ agenda entails. While public money must be used effectively and responsibly, ‘efficiencies’ must not be used as a smokescreen to inflict further damaging cuts on our public services.”
Mike Corbett, NASUWT Scotland National Official, said:
“The Budget reconfirmed the government’s previously stated commitment to introducing free school meals to pupils in P6 and P7 in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment, yet provides no timeframe for delivery and expansion.
“We know there are many struggling families who do not qualify for free school meals whose children currently miss out.
“Ensuring all children get a nutritious free meal each day would have both educational benefits and ensure that no child goes hungry. It would represent an investment in the wellbeing of our children now and offer rewards long into the future. It is disappointing that a government which claims to be making tackling child poverty a priority has failed to set a timescale for implementation to fulfil its promises to our children and families.”
