THE number of nursery teachers in Scottish state schools has rapidly declined over the past three years, potentially damaging the prospects of many youngsters before they even start formal education.
Alarming figures obtained by Scotland on Sunday show some councils have lost almost half their nursery teachers since 2004, with many switched to plug gaps in primary schools.
Nursery teachers are trained professionals who work in nurseries –
usually attached to state schools – preparing three and four-year-olds for the rigours of formal learning.
But many councils have cut costs by shedding nursery teacher posts and replacing them with nursery nurses. Critics claimed last night the move had changed many state nurseries into glorified day care.
Last night, the Scottish Government said it was "deeply concerned" by the slump and pledged to find extra cash to pay for more nursery teachers.
Free nursery education was one of Labour's key pledges when it came to power in 1997. But figures show that the numbers of nursery teachers employed by local authorities fell from 2,307 in 2004 to 2,110 last year, a drop of 8.5%.
But far more drastic decreases have taken place in many areas of Scotland. The biggest losers, according to the government figures, have been in Moray (46%), North Ayrshire (44%) and East Dunbartonshire (33%).
In Glasgow, the number of nursery teachers fell by more than a quarter between 2004 and 2007, with the authority losing 61 of its 237 teachers. Meanwhile in Edinburgh, the numbers have fallen from 246 in 2004 to 216 in 2007. And since the figures were compiled, some councils have cut the numbers further. Stirling reduced its nursery teaching staff from 29.2 full-time equivalent posts to just 11.
Many nursery teachers have been "redeployed" to primary schools to reduce class sizes and give more attention to children who struggle to learn.
Teachers last night called on local authorities and ministers to reverse the decline, citing studies that link educational achievement to having nursery teachers in pre-school education.
A spokesman for the EIS teaching union, said: "While many local authorities are to be commended for their continuing commitment to employing permanent nursery teachers, others seem to be putting financial savings ahead of ensuring high-quality nursery provision. This adds to growing concern of a postcode lottery in nursery provision."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government has committed to providing access to a teacher for every pre-school child and this is reflected in the concordat with local government."
A government source claimed: "This decline happened while Labour and the Lib-Dems were in power and engaging in smear and scare tactics against the SNP. While they smeared us, they let down the children of Scotland."
No-one was available for comment from Labour.
The Conservatives last night called on ministers and councils to make more use of private nurseries. Scottish Tory education spokeswoman Liz Smith, said: "We are firmly of the opinion that private sector resources are not being well harnessed in this area, which puts an additional burden on councils, some of whom are using the SNP budget as the excuse for cuts."
However, nursery nurses challenge claims that the loss of nursery teachers will have a negative impact on education. Carol Ball, chairwoman of the education issues committee of the public services union Unison, said: "In the many years I have been a nursery nurse, I have never seen a nursery teacher deliver a lesson I could not have delivered myself."
The view from the chalkfaceMarie Pisaneschi is a head teacher at Eastwood Nursery School in Glasgow with more than 20 years' experience teaching under-fives.
"Being trained as a nursery teacher means we know how to organise things in order to help teach literacy, numeracy and communication skills; right down to how we organise, say, a play restaurant or shop in the corner," she said.
"It is that extra training which others don't have that makes the difference and that allows us to deliver excellence in learning.
"We are already noticing that where the authorities have removed or cut down the numbers of nursery teachers, the outcomes are not as good for the children.
"In primary schools, they are adding teachers in order to improve things for the children. Shouldn't that tell us something and that we should be recruiting more nursery teachers?"
The full article contains 734 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
