This article appears as part of the Lessons to Learn newsletter.

In case you haven’t noticed, Scotland doesn’t have enough teachers. And it’s not just me that thinks so – the SNP has made it clear, again and again, that it also thinks the country needs significantly more teachers working in schools. The problem, of course, is that the party has proven largely unable to make that a reality. Before the 2021 election, SNP promised to hire an extra 3,500 teachers but failed to do so. Various watered down commitments, such as a pledge to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels, also came and went without being achieved. The reality is that the SNP has never restored teacher numbers to the levels it inherited when it first came to power in 2007, and the consequences of this have been enormous. Over the last two decades, Scotland’s teachers have dealt with the introduction of a poorly-designed and more demanding curriculum than ever before. Over the same period, there has been an explosion in the number of pupils recognised as having additional support needs, with classroom teachers expected to handle the consequences of that while resources and support structures have been cut all around them. Unsurprisingly, this led to a crushing workload crisis that has never been properly accepted, never mind addressed, by the people in charge. 

SNP pledge to cut teacher contact time an 'unexploded bomb'

Survey shows teacher shortages driving curriculum cuts

New teachers' chances of permanent work have plummeted over the past decade

As I have been reporting........

© Herald Scotland