SCOTTISH headteachers can be in charge of as many as five schools under a controversial policy of shared leadership.

Joint headships were introduced in rural areas where it was felt one school leader was sufficient to run more than one small school.

However, in recent years increasing number of councils are using joint headships in larger schools to plug unfilled vacancies and save money in the face of cuts.

The top of the salary scale for a headteacher is £86,000, but most earn much less than that particularly if they are in charge of smaller schools. Average salaries in the primary sector are £50,000.

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The Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS), which represents senior primary staff, is concerned the issue is damaging education and causing stress with more than 200 primary schools now under some form of joint headship.

Donald Gillespie, a headteacher from Fife, told the annual conference of the AHDS in Dunblane it was time for a campaign to ensure consistency over the use of joint headships.

He said: "Since 2008 there has been a steady increase in the number of councils who have given serious consideration to looking at joint headships. In more recent years headteachers have become responsible for three, four and in some cases five schools.

"Some say it is a strategy to keep schools open and others say it is because of the sheer shortage of quality heads that are available to be leaders in schools.

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"My main concern in the financial climate we find ourselves in is the lack of consistency across the country and there is a very genuine concern for those already in charge of multiple schools. It is essential we focus on a policy that can bring uniformity across the country and make it clear this should not be based solely on financial reasons."

John Swinney, the Education Secretary, who was attending the conference, said: "We need strong educational leadership in all settings and there may well be circumstances in which joint headships are appropriate, but that has to be a careful judgement to make sure that it is done in the correct circumstances."

The conference also heard from president Robert Hair who attacked the Scottish Government's policy of introducing standardised national testing in Scottish primary schools.

Mr Hair said time-consuming classroom assessments linked to Higher and National 5 exams had been scrapped in secondary schools, but teacher workload in primaries was just as bad.

He said: "We hear our secondary colleagues shout and scream and Mr Swinney revisits the National qualifications and reduces the assessment and the burden on our secondary colleagues.

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"The argument for reducing the National qualifications is because the older pupils were stressed and had difficulty keeping up with the diet of examinations, but we are switching that to our primary sector pupils who are younger less able."