PLANS to give more funding direct to Scottish schools to help raise standards have been dealt a blow after primary headteachers said they were "not accountants".
The SNP manifesto for the Holyrood election included a proposal to "allocate more resources directly to headteachers" to enable them to take decisions based on local circumstances.
Speaking at a summit in Edinburgh on the future of Scottish schools Education Secretary John Swinney also unveiled plans to give headteachers financial management training to help them run devolved budgets.
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However, Greg Dempster, general secretary of the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland, which represents primary headteachers, questioned the policy.
He said: "The feedback I have had from members in relation to the proposals for devolution of finance to schools has been that headteachers are not accountants and have no desire to be.
"We will be interested to get a fuller picture of the Scottish Government plans in this area, but at the moment the primary headteachers I have spoken to see no space in their working day to take this on."
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union, also raised questions over how far the Scottish Government intended to go.
He said: "On the issue of financial management, it does beg the question about the level of financial control which is envisaged for headteachers.
"Schools already operate significant levels of funding and clearly school leaders need to be able to evaluate financial decisions, but, given the workload pressures which our headteacher members are already reporting to us, it cannot be expected that they will now take on bursar duties, also."
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The stance is in contrast to secondary headteachers who have welcomed greater control over budgets - particularly for staffing.
Despite the unrest, Mr Swinney reiterated his intention for a shake-up of the school system - including plans for more direct funding.
He said: "I want to make it crystal clear there will have to be reform because we have some great strengths, but there are some challenges and I have to address those challenges to make sure the potential of every young person is fulfilled.
"Headteachers must be skilled to take forward effective financial planning if they are going to be empowered to take more decisions about their schools. The schools have got to be appropriately led and those that exercise that leadership must be trained for the job."
Under the plans for headteachers will also be offered opportunities for training in strategies to close the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils as well as understanding data on pupil progress.
An international exchange programme will also be launched for school leaders to learn and share ideas with their counterparts in other countries and councils will help train "community education champions" to provide additional support to headteachers.
Meanwhile, Mr Swinney has written to unions, including the EIS, the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association and the NASUWT Scotland, calling for their input to help cut teacher workload.
He said: "I am keen to work with teaching unions, local authorities, schools and others to make further progress quickly on this important issue.
"That is why I have asked the teaching unions to provide me with their own specific, tangible ideas to reduce unnecessary workload for teachers and to de-clutter and streamline approaches in education."
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