MINISTERS have refused to impose financial penalties on Scottish councils who slashed teacher numbers last year.
Teaching unions had demanded action from the Scottish Government after school staff were axed in half of local authorities despite an agreement to protect them.
However, John Swinney, the finance secretary, has decided not to fine councils, instead calling on them to sign up to another commitment to protect teacher numbers in future.
As part of the deal, Mr Swinney has offered councils £8 million, but there are no explicit threats of further financial sanctions if councils fail to deliver. Mr Swinney has only suggested a "review" of the position if teacher numbers continue to fall.
The offer from Mr Swinney is currently being considered by Cosla, although The Herald understands the group's Labour Party members have so far rejected it.
In December, figures revealed that teacher numbers had plummeted to a ten year low sparking fears for the future of Scottish education.
There are currently 50,824 nursery, primary and secondary teachers in Scotland, the lowest number since 2003 and more than 4,200 fewer than in 2007 when the SNP came to power.
In his letter to Cosla, Mr Swinney said: "I recognise the very real budgetary pressures facing all of the public sector including local government as budgets are set for 2015/16.
"On that basis I am willing to offer some additional financial assistance to local government in return for the maintenance of teacher numbers and the pupil teacher ratio."
On the failure to deliver the previous target Mr Swinney said: "To demonstrate its commitment to protecting teacher posts the Scottish Government will not invoke.... sanctions for 2014/15 as it would be entitled to do.
"Going forward, provided all local authorities sign up to the terms of the offer and the commitment is met..... the Scottish Government will make available an additional £8m for 2015/16 to local government in recognition of the general budget pressures."
The offer was welcomed by Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union.
He said: "Following constructive dialogue between the EIS and the Scottish Government we believe a proposal is close to agreement with Cosla which will maintain teacher numbers.
"Given the scale of cuts which local authorities have been seeking to make, such an agreement would represent a significant success for the EIS.
"It seems that the Scottish Government is offering the carrot of additional funding rather than the stick of financial penalty, which should hopefully encourage greater compliance from local authorities on this policy commitment."
The Scottish Labour Party said parents and pupils would be "disappointed" with the Scottish Government's "lack of ambition" on education, with the party's finance spokeswoman Jackie Baillie arguing the offer would not increase teacher numbers to previous levels.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said ministers had been "clear and consistent" in its commitment to maintain teacher numbers.
She said: "We know the number and quality of our teachers is a crucial factor in ensuring that our children and young people have the best possible education which is why we added £41m to the local government finance settlement.
"Despite recent progress in narrowing the attainment gap, we want to move more quickly to close the gap between the most and least advantaged pupils."
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