Brutal secondary teacher recruitment figures show government missing target by 800

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie has today accused the Scottish Government of degrading the teaching profession as figures showed that the target for recruiting aspiring secondary school teachers was missed by more than third last year.

In response to a parliamentary question from Mr Rennie, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth directed him to provisional information received from universities on intakes to initial teacher education in 2022-23 which showed that just 1,506 students applied for secondary teaching qualifications, against a Scottish Government target of 2,336.

This included just 48 out of 159 for Chemistry (30%), 34 out of 85 for Technology (40%), 50 out of 138 for modern languages (43%), 114 out of 250 for Maths (46%), 60 out of 131 for Physics (46%), 26 out of 52 for Computing (50%) and 107 out of 163 for Biology (66%).

Mr Rennie said:

“These are brutal figures which expose a short-sighted Scottish Government.  

“If we want to give our young people the best chance of getting ahead in life, they need access to great teachers and a great education. Instead in key areas such as the STEM subjects, the government is failing to inspire people to train as teachers. We have a tremendously talented group of young people, but they will never achieve their potential if there are not enough teachers to aid and guide them.

“With industrial disputes becoming a regular occurrence and reports of violence in classrooms, I can understand why this is not as attractive a career as it once was. That means it is on politicians to change the narrative and made teaching a career of choice once more.

“We need properly resourced schools and education authorities with a plan for getting Scottish education moving in the right direction. Scottish Liberal Democrats would give young people better access to expert teachers in STEM subjects by bringing back principal teachers for each of them and for each science. That will create a more attractive career path for graduates in STEM subjects within teaching.”