A LEGAL bid has been launched to stop Scotland's largest council appointing non-teachers to run nursery schools.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) took action after Glasgow City Council moved to fill 11 vacant posts in nurseries with managers, rather than qualified teachers.

The EIS is seeking a judicial review at the Court of Session in Edinburgh to stop the move, claiming it should have been consulted.

Union leaders argue removing qualified teachers from posts within the nursery sector will damage the quality of education on offer.

However, the city council believes there is no legal requirement to consult the EIS and argues the staff who run nurseries do not need to be qualified teachers because it is more of an administrative role.

Gordon Matheson, the leader of Glasgow City Council, has also come under fire over the move after defending the importance of teachers in pre-school education at an education hustings before the council elections in May.

The legal wrangle, which will be heard later this month, cuts to the heart of the current tension between the role of a nursery school and whether its primary purpose is to educate or care for the children of working families.

Last month, headteachers, teachers and parents attacked the Scottish Government's record on nursery education, arguing the service is being dismantled.

In recent years, councils have replaced teachers with lower-paid child development officers – previously called nursery nurses – partly on cost grounds, but also because they work longer hours.

Local authorities argue child development officers are better qualified than ever before, following the introduction of new qualifications up to degree level, and their use allows them to open nurseries for longer to meet the demands of working parents.

However, research has repeatedly underlined the importance of teachers to the quality of nursery education.

According to Europe's largest pre-school research project, carried out in England, there is a direct correlation between the quality of a pre-school setting and the qualifications of staff.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, said the union's move was vital to protect the quality of education in nurseries.

He said: "Teachers are central to the work of nursery schools and will do everything we can to defend the interests of our members in the nursery sector. Replacing trained nursery headteachers with other staff is unacceptable, particularly in the light of the new school curriculum which is all about education from the age of three to 18. Teachers are central to the role of nursery schools and it is time the council recognised that."

Councillor Graeme Hendry, leader of the SNP group in Glasgow, also hit out.

He said: "High quality nursery education provides Glasgow's children with the building blocks to be successful learners as they make their way through education and life and this requires high-quality teaching input.

"As Gordon Matheson said at the hustings, teaching staff in nurseries are irreplaceable so it would be utterly hypocritical to try and replace them."

However, a city council spokeswoman said quality early years provision was a key priority, but greater flexibility was required in staffing.

She said: "The last few years have seen a shift in working practices and this has resulted in early years provision changing to match demand from parents.

"The post of head of nursery in any future vacancies in nursery, early years and family learning centres is essential to facilitate the flexibility required by Glasgow's families.

"The role of the teacher remains important in the delivery of pre-school education and care and we have established a working group which is providing recommendations on how the role of the teacher should be developed in order to enhance the already high-quality early years provision in Glasgow."