 The EIS claims budget cuts will be felt for years to come |
Scotland's largest teaching union has warned that class sizes in Glasgow schools will increase for the first time in a decade from September. The EIS claimed there would be less staff, books and learning support due to the worst cuts to the education budget in recent years. Glasgow City Council said its education budget had risen by almost 25% over the last four years. It said education was and would continue to be its "first priority". The EIS said this year's budget cut of 2% across the board was "not trimming at the margins or good housekeeping". It claimed the impact would be significant and "replicated on a larger scale in 2009 and 2010". The union said Drumchapel High would be one of the worst hit schools in Glasgow with the number of teachers falling from 60 to 50. This, it said, meant that learning support classes for those who needed extra help in Maths and English would disappear. The EIS said individual department budgets were also being slashed and cited the case of the English department at Holyrood secondary - Europe's largest school. It said the budget was being halved to just �5,000 pounds for more than 2,000 pupils. But Bailie Gordon Matheson, Glasgow's executive member for education, said: "We spend more per pupil than the Scottish average, and more than any other city in the country. "However, we must be prepared to change how we do things so that we become more efficient and can invest where it is most needed. "This includes improving numeracy and literacy for all, increasing our childcare support to young parents, and ensuring that all qualified pupils will be offered a modern apprenticeship, should they wish one. "I understand that there are those who will not support all of our priorities but as politicians we will make the decisions that are in Glasgow's long-term interests." The EIS said its research showed at least 13 other local authorities in Scotland had also reduced funding. It is now calling on politicians at all levels to address the issue.
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We must be prepared to change how we do things so that we become more efficient and can invest where it is most needed
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