TEACHING is increasingly perceived as an unattractive occupation, according to a leading union. Would-be recruits are put off by unsatisfactory routes to advancement, heavy workloads, and an uncompetitive salary scale. Meanwhile, existing teachers are looking elsewhere and seeing that their skills are transferable

The president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, Euan Duncan, says other professions can offer more opportunities, and teaching in other countries can also offer better prospects. A shortage of suitable promoted posts is driving a crisis in recruitment, he claims. There is surely some truth in this.

Two developments – the closure seven years ago of the Chartered Teacher programme and the increasing reliance on a faculty structure in schools – have made the options for ambitious teachers problematic. Whereas a role as a principal teacher in their given subject once gave classroom teachers an obvious route to more responsibility and recompense, the fashion for grouping subjects into faculties has been counterproductive.

Brought about for primarily financial reasons, it has seen senior teachers in charge of groupings of subjects in which they may not themselves have expertise. Some teachers see such posts as too big a step-up, but there are also fewer posts, for those who do seek them. Meanwhile, the chartered teacher scheme, designed to enhance the pay of the best teachers while keeping them in the classroom, was discarded.

If these changes had been driven by educational goals, it would be easier to understand. But the benefit of faculties, apart from in cost terms, is hard to discern. And while there were criticisms of the chartered teacher scheme nothing else has been put in its place.

Local authorities face major financial challenges. But if the Scottish Government is truly to address the attainment gap, raise standards in the education system, and prevent a teacher recruitment crisis, it could be time for a wholesale review of career paths and remuneration in our schools.