News that an increasing number of teachers from the new European Union accession states are heading to Scotland to take up work has been warmly received by the General Teaching Council (GTC) for Scotland. The influx of teachers is seen as a significant achievement by the GTC and the Scottish executive.
Latest figures from the GTC show the number of teachers coming into Scotland from overseas and in the United Kingdom increased by 39% between April 2004 and March last year. During this period, the GTC reports, 960 teachers from England and overseas have registered north of the border.
Such statistics have done much for a sector beleaguered by chronic shortages. About 96 of the new teachers registered in Scotland specialise in maths, while 44 teach English, the two subjects identified by ministers as being most in need of fresh blood.
The Scottish executive believes its recruitment drive, launched last year, will succeed. It expects the full-time teaching workforce to increase from 51 287 to 53 000 by 2007. The executive has geared up for a recruitment campaign in the new EU accession states, with Poland being targeted first.
Other Eastern European countries, such as Slovakia and Slovenia, will also be targeted. But the profession needs to attract still more teachers to replace the 40% of staff expected to retire in the next 10 years. — Guardian News-papers 2005