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North-east schools to start new term 140 teachers short

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Schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire will start the year with 140 unfilled teacher vacancies.

As pupils return to the classroom next week, figures have shown that Aberdeen has 85 unfilled positions, 45 primary posts and 39.8 full-time equivalent secondary roles.

In Aberdeenshire, there are 55 vacancies comprising of 33 primary school positions and 22 secondary posts.

The city council has reduced the number of vacancies substantially over the summer, from 150 in March.

But the figures have risen since the same period last year when Aberdeen schools had 60 vacancies.

At St Machar Academy there are seven job adverts for five full-time staff and two part-time staff, while Woodside Primary is looking for a deputy head.

Kintore Primary is advertising for a headteacher and there are deputy head posts advertised for Newmachar Primary.

Interviews are also being carried out later this month for Longside School, near Peterhead, which closed earlier this year due to staffing pressures – with the authority unable to find a head teacher.

The north-east has long struggled to recruit public sector staff, in part due to a historically high cost of living driven by high oil wages.

Last night, North East Conservative MSP Liam Kerr said the Scottish Government has to do more.

He said: “This is unacceptable. The SNP has been in charge of education in Scotland for the last 10 years and Nicola Sturgeon insists it is her top priority.”

But SNP Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin said: “While the Tories have sought to cut roles including specialist teachers in Aberdeenshire, the Scottish Government is working hard to improve teaching numbers.”

Aberdeen opposition SNP leader Stephen Flynn added: “Ultimately, education is the direct responsibility of local authorities and I only wish the administration put as much effort into improving outcomes as they do moaning about the government.”

City council education convener John Wheeler said there had been a “marked improvement” in the numbers and said he was determined to drive them down further.

He said: “We have worked hard to address the number of teacher vacancies in Aberdeen and have seen a marked improvement since earlier this year but this remains a national issue with the impact still being felt of the Scottish Government decision to slash teacher training places.”

The chairwoman of Aberdeenshire Council’s education committee, Gillian Owen, stressed that recent exam results had shown that shortages had not affected attainment,

She added: “We pride ourselves on our distance learning teahcer education programme, and are always looking at innovative ways to boost numbers.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said that £88 million had been invested in teacher recruitment last year, resulting in 543 posts being filled.