Additional Support Needs teaching takes a battering on SNP's watch

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie has today warned that support for teachers and pupils is being stripped out of schools, as he highlighted new figures showing that the number of additional support needs teachers has cratered and sharp falls in the number of qualified teachers in early learning settings.  

Supplementary school stats produced by the Scottish Government and analysed by Scottish Liberal Democrats reveal that:

• The number of ASN teachers has dropped from 3,524 in 2010 to 2,843 in 2022, a fall of 20%.

• Despite 31,268 pupils being reported as needing support for ‘social, emotional and behavioural difficulty’ there are just 70 ASN teachers for behavioural support in secondary schools in 2022, down from 127 in 2008, a decrease of 44.8%.

• In 2022, there were 734 teachers in early learning and childcare settings, which is a decrease of 54% from the 1630 ELC teachers in 2008.

Willie Rennie said:

“The First Minister’s defining mission has transformed into a defining failure.  

"After 15 years of nationalist government, teaching support has been stripped out of classrooms.

"Scottish Liberal Democrats would prioritise the building of top-class leadership in our schools, developing support networks and career opportunities for teachers and pupil support assistants and encouraging specialist ASN training.

"Those are simple steps that the government could take to reverse the battering that education has taken on their watch."