Shadow education minister for Scotland Jamie Halcro Johnston welcomes rural teacher plan
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SHADOW education minister Jamie Halcro Johnston has backed a plan to create a new rural teacher fund proposed by his Scottish party leader.
Douglas Ross, Moray MP and Scottish Conservative leader says the initiative would increase targeted financial incentives for teachers in rural communities, as well as introducing accelerated career progression routes.
And it would support a scheme that would allow individuals to study teaching remotely from rural communities, on the understanding they would subsequently work in the local school.
Mr Halcro Johnston, a Highlands and Islands MSP, said: “Our number one priority must be ensuring that children get the best possible start to their education in our schools.
“But far too many schools in my region, and across rural Scotland, are struggling to deliver the curriculum due to a lack of qualified teachers, and that is putting our children at a disadvantage.
“Schooling has been neglected by the SNP, and I am delighted that Douglas has placed it firmly at the top of the Scottish Conservative’s agenda for government.”
The plan would see £30 million to support measures to recruit hundreds of teachers to the areas in need.
Last year, a European Parliament report said that rural Scotland had among the most severe teacher recruitment problems in the continent.
Mr Ross said that he would make the issue a priority if his party was elected to government.
“We’ve had a problem getting enough teachers for rural schools ever since I was first elected as a councillor back in 2007,” he said.
“Rural schools regularly face acute teacher shortages that the central belt and big cities just don’t need to worry about.”
A Scottish Government body also proposed last year that trainee teachers should spend up to two years in rural classrooms in order to tackle the recruitment crisis.
