Euan Duncan told the union’s annual congress last week that the spread of so-called faculty structures, which group subjects under one promoted teacher, has been a detrimental measure aimed at replacing principal teachers and cutting costs.
“Education authorities throughout Scotland have been stripping out principal teacher posts ... to save money, removing important planks of leadership and weakening the middle,” Mr Duncan said.
“There is plenty of evidence that almost all graduates are attracted by opportunities for career progression and if teaching is perceived as offering progression only for an elite few then graduates will look elsewhere.”
He also cited the government’s scrapping of the chartered teachers scheme as further limiting the prospects for many in the profession. Mr Duncan pointed to the 730 secondary vacancies at the last teacher census, and the fact that 861 teachers left before their mid-40s.
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