Schools in Aberdeen are still facing a shortage of teachers, despite an incentive scheme offering prospective staff up to £5,000 to come to the north-east to work.
Education officials at the city council revealed yesterday that 13 people had accepted job offers since the launch of the scheme in July.
The local authority received about 85 applications for 52 vacancies after offering the sweetener payments, which were split into £3,000 up front and £2,000 after three years.
Last night, opposition SNP politicians claimed the scheme had been a failure, but senior members of the Labour-led administration insisted it was the right move.
Grant Bruce, Aberdeen branch secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) union, said the local authority’s leadership deserved credit for its efforts to attract teachers.
It is understood some prospective staff, who had committed during the summer to come to Aberdeen, later took jobs elsewhere, leaving the authority short for the start of the current term.
Figures for “uncovered absences”, where staffing gaps in schools are not plugged, show that about one-third – 88 of 251 – went unfilled in September.
Mr Bruce said: “We have a national issue in terms of a shortage of teachers, but in Aberdeen we also have what is probably the most expensive part of Scotland to live in.
“One of the things I would say that has to be looked at is increasing the number of teacher training places at universities in Aberdeen.
“By training students in Aberdeen, we have got more chance of them staying on in the north-east when they qualify.”
SNP education spokesman Gordon Townson described the council’s cash incentive scheme as a failure, however.
He said: “The administration took its eye off the ball and let vacancies climb, so to speed up filling the gap they created this golden hello, but that has fallen flat.
“We also now have a system where some teachers are going to be paid more than others for doing the same job, leaving the council open to challenge.”
Education convener Jenny Laing insisted the scheme had been a success.
“I am delighted that we have appointed 13 additional quality teachers as a result of the recruitment scheme which was agreed by the council in July,” she said.
“This along with the measures taken has meant the majority of teacher vacancies have now been filled.
“I would hope that the whole council would acknowledge the success of the scheme as it has clearly delivered extra teachers to our classrooms.”