Scottish Greens call for Edinburgh to get 360 extra teachers to help Covid recovery

Scottish Greens have unveiled plans to recruit an extra 360 teachers in Edinburgh to help schools recover from the pandemic.

The pledge is part of a proposal to recruit 5,500 teachers across Scotland over the next few years.

It will be included in the party’s manifesto, due to be launched later this month, and aims to help reduce class sizes and teacher workload, which unions say has become unmanageable.

In November the Scottish Parliament backed Green proposals for the recruitment of 2,000 additional teachers during the pandemic and also regular voluntary Covid testing of both school staff and senior pupils .

Greens say more teachers are needed to help schools recover from Covid

Alison Johnstone, the Greens' lead candidate for Lothian, said: “To ensure young people in Scotland get the best possible education, we need to ensure teachers in Edinburgh have the time and resources they need. That’s why the Scottish Greens are committing to the recruitment of 360 additional teachers for local schools.

"Even before the pandemic teacher workload levels in Scotland were amongst the highest in Europe. We urgently need more teachers in the classroom to spread that workload, giving them more time to prepare and to teach, rather than get bogged down in paperwork and administration.

“Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Greens have worked hard for school staff and pupils. Our plans to get more staff into our schools to cover for Covid-related absences and manage the huge increase in workload were passed by parliament, and so too were our calls for regular testing, to ensure the return of schools was as safe as possible.

“A green recovery for our young people means giving them a broad, empowering education delivered by motivated teachers.”

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