Greens pledge 5,500 teachers to help schools recovery
Scottish Greens will today reveal plans to recruit an additional 5,500 teachers to help schools recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Scottish Greens manifesto will make the pledge, an increase of 10% of the workforce, to help reduce class sizes and teacher workload, which unions warn have become unmanageable in recent years.
The announcement follows the Scottish Greens' work to make schools safer during the pandemic. In November, Parliament backed a package of 'Safer Schools' proposals by Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer, which led to the introduction of regular voluntary COVID testing for both school staff and senior pupils and the granting of £45 million for schools to recruit 2,000 additional teachers or other key staff during the pandemic.
Commenting, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “The Scottish Greens have worked hard for teachers, support staff and pupils throughout the pandemic. Our plans for regular covid testing and the recruitment of additional staff to cope with COVID related absences were passed by Parliament and are now being delivered. And of course, we were able to force the restoration of all hundred and twenty five thousand school grades unfairly lowered by the SQA. That's the difference Green MSPs have made during the pandemic.
"Scotland's schools were struggling long before covid though, with impossible workloads heaped on teachers and class sizes still far, far too large. That’s why the Greens will recruit an additional 5,500 teachers over the next term of Parliament. Reducing the workload burden and allowing teachers to teach rather than administer will attract exactly the kind of passionate people we want teaching our children.
“A green recovery for our young people means giving them a broad, empowering education delivered by motivated teachers. Our future depends on it.”