DUMFRIES and Galloway’s education chairman has slammed the SNP Scottish Government for as £303,000 punishment of D and G pupils doesn’t add up .
Responding to the Scottish Government’s Finance Secretary’s illogical and unreasonable decision to punish Dumfries and Galloway over teacher numbers, Council Councillor Jeff Leaver, chairman of the Education Committee, said, “It’s an absolute scandal that the Scottish Government has chosen to punish Dumfries and Galloway Council for teacher numbers.
We have the second best teacher/pupil ratio in Scotland, and have continued to consistently apply the same staffing formula. We did not implement any budget savings impacting on teacher numbers. To overcome difficulties in recruiting to a largely rural area, we have continuously worked to recruit teachers to vacant positions. And, our ‘grow your own’ initiative to recruit teachers has been nationally praised. And yet, at a time of unprecedented financial pressure, because of a ludicrous snapshot of teacher numbers on one particular day, the Scottish Government has unreasonably chosen to punish the education sector in Dumfries and Galloway, depriving local children of £303,000 for their education. This is exactly the same Scottish Government that refused to provide us with the additional 19 trainee teachers that we asked for. And now, to cap it all, the Scottish Government has imposed upon us a moratorium on recruiting teachers, which could lead to further financial penalties. Quite simply, the actions of the Scottish Government defy any reasonable logic.”
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