Scottish government to improve teacher workforce planning
Sue Learner
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Scottish Government hopes to ensure the right number of teachers are in the right place at the right time by adopting the recommendations of a working group.
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, said that the recommendations of the working group she set up to look at teacher employment would all be adopted. She said: "This is not a new problem but it is one which this government is now tackling. We need to have the right number of teachers in the right place at the right time to ensure children are not sent home because of lack of teachers."
Measures to match up supply and demand include research to see if the credit crunch is affecting the number of teachers preparing for retirement, and a rise in the Preferential Waiver Payment scheme, which aims to attract teachers to areas with vacancies, from £6,000 to £8,000.
