HEADTEACHERS have been warned that student teachers may arrive at their schools "without advance notice" following a blunder over placements.
More than 100 trainees, who had been set to begin the essential placements on Monday, found they had nowhere to go with the majority of cases involving students at Strathclyde University, in Glasgow.
As the extent of the crisis emerged, East Renfrewshire's director of education wrote to her counterparts at local authorities in the West of Scotland, appealing for them to free up places which see students gain essential classroom experience.
Read more: Scottish teachers consider suspending industrial action after workload breakthrough
The letter, obtained by The Herald and sent on Tuesday, warns that Strathclyde University alone had warned that the number of its students without a placement was "closer to 200". A spokesman for the university said last night that he "did not recognise" the figure, claiming it was now closer to 50.
The appeal adds: "I would hope that between all the local authorities in the West Partnership we can collectively offer an additional 100 places over and above those places already allocated" and goes on to ask that heads make "additional offers over and above those already confirmed."
It goes on: "We also ask that headteachers forego the usual notice period and accept that students may be arriving in schools without detailed communication or advance notice."
Strathclyde University was also taken out of a system that sees placements allocated electronically, with staff to instead "manually match the offers with students," the letter states.
Read more: Scottish teachers consider suspending industrial action after workload breakthrough
Scottish Labour’s inequalities spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: "What must be remembered is that behind every statistic is a trainee teacher put at a disadvantage because the system is not working for them. Dozens of people affected have been in touch with my office to ask for support amid the chaos.
"Many of them are worried that they will be foisted on school leaders who are unprepared for the arrival of students through no fault of their own. So, as well as the issue around the quantity of placements, there are growing concerns about the quality of the experience in the classroom. It’s simply not good enough and John Swinney must provide the Scottish Parliament with an update urgently."
Read more: Scottish teachers consider suspending industrial action after workload breakthrough
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