Councillor raises concerns over 'precarious' situation in Aberdeenshire's secondary schools

A north-east councillor has written to Cabinet Secretary of Education and Skills, Shirley-Ann Somerville MSP, regarding what she describes as a ‘precarious’ situation in Aberdeenshire’s secondary schools.

Speaking at last week’s meeting of the council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee, Cllr Gillian Owen told members: “Whilst we have made significant improvements in relation to teacher staffing in primary over the past few years, I remain really concerned about the situation in secondary schools where the situation is precarious.”

In her letter to Ms Somerville, Cllr Owen stated: “I am slightly concerned by the recent announcement from Scottish Government that it intends to claw back money from local authorities if they fail to maintain teacher and PSA numbers. We are aware that some local authorities have more teachers than they need, largely the former “Challenge Authorities” which used their additional resources to recruit more teachers.