Highland schools spend more than £9 million on supply teaching staff
Figures reveal that £2.7 million was spent on supply teachers in Highland schools for 2018-19 – a rise of 41 per cent from £1.9 million in 2015-16.
Teacher vacancies and absences along with teaching pay awards are among the factors cited by Highland Council for the rising costs.
The figures, obtained under a Freedom of Information request, also show that at the end of January there were 17 secondary school teacher vacancies across the region and 13 primary school teacher vacancies.
They come in the wake of recent revelations that stress-related absences among Highland secondary school teachers soared to a five-year high last year while S1-S3 pupils at Nairn Academy were sent home in December after 15 teachers phoned in sick and only one supply teacher could be drafted in.
The rising costs have sparked concerns among politicians including Highlands and Islands Labour MSP David Stewart who is writing to the council’s chief executive Donna Manson to “unpick” the figures and understand the complex issues.
“I can imagine in many instances that the council will have had no option but to spend on supply teachers,” he said.
“When Labour was responsible for education, we invested not just in schools and universities but in teachers, but under this SNP government many schools no longer have the luxury of being able to cover staff absence – particularly where teachers are concerned – because there are shortages.
“The immediacy of need means there must be a cover strategy in place, which will, of course, cost money.”
Inverness Ness-side SNP councillor Ron MacWilliam, who is on the council’s education committee, was shocked by the figures.
“I have previously called on the council administration to work with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and other agencies across the Highlands to devise a new recruitment strategy,” he said.
“Clearly, what is happening at present is not working. When I hear the expenditure on supply teachers has increased that much, it really sets off the alarm bells with me.
“We need to take action quite quickly to make sure vacant posts are being filled.”
Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Edward Mountain said teachers’ heavy workloads had not been helped by the council’s decision to reduce the number of pupil support assistants and additional support needs staff.
“Reliance on supply teaching is not right,” he said. “We need to ensure that those teachers who are absent because of stress and mental health issues are receiving the appropriate support from their employers to ensure they are fit to return to work.”
Alistair Bell, Highland secretary of the EIS teachers’ union, said some rising costs were due to the readjustments of payments to short-term supply staff from January 2018 but he also highlighted staff absences.
“It is clear that absences related to such things as stress, anxiety and other examples of mental health issues are high and we would all wish to see these numbers fall drastically,” he said.
“High levels of workload, coupled with low levels of autonomy in your work increase levels of, and thus the likelihood of absence due to, stress.”
He said a union campaign focusing on workload, and empowering teachers to have more control over their day-to-day work should be in place in all schools from August.
A council spokeswoman said: “We are working proactively on recruitment to attract teachers to posts across Highland and are providing support to head teachers in terms of managing staff absence.
“Recruitment to teaching posts has been generally positive in the primary sector but challenges remain across secondary subject areas where there is a national shortage.”
She added £222,000 of the increased costs related to the impact of the teaching pay awards.
Other factors included vacancies and absences, instances of maternity leave, the introduction of Pupil Equity Fund and Scottish Attainment Challenge.