A growing teacher recruitment crisis is looming unless greater support for teachers is forthcoming, the President of NASUWT Scotland has warned at the Union’s Scotland Annual Conference.

Richard Bell, a geography teacher from Dumfries, told the Conference, which is being held today (Friday/Saturday) at the NASUWT Scotland National Centre in Edinburgh, that “more and more is being asked of Scottish teachers, but less and less are we being adequately recognised or rewarded.”

He warned that decision makers in Scotland must avoid emulating the punitive approach to relationships with the teaching profession seen elsewhere in the UK and commit to providing the support and working conditions which will enable teachers to continue to providing the highest standards of education to children and young people.

He said: “From our unique perspective as a union across all the nations we can see the corrosive effects of policy decisions which undermine both teacher morale and consequently have a negative impact on the educational experiences of young people.

“Without tangible positive steps to support teachers then what may begin as a supply problem will likely grow into a general recruitment crisis, as has been the experience elsewhere.”

Mr Bell pointed to the unsustainable workloads being visited on teachers as a result of the poorly handled introduction of the National Qualifications and the increased pressures facing the profession though the planned National Improvement Framework.

The pressures are increasing at a time when teachers’ pay and conditions are being attacked, Mr Bell told members, making the profession less attractive and risking damage to educational standards for pupils.

He urged teachers to stand together within the union to fight these challenges, saying: “More than ever I would urge you to stand shoulder to shoulder with your colleagues, spread the message that there is a better way. The NASUWT is the means to that better way.”