Chamber and committees

Just to follow up on—[Inaudible.]—this morning. There has been massive growth in the number of temporary teachers, not just during the pandemic but before that. I am curious about how we can be absolutely sure that we are reducing the number of temporary contracts. Some teachers are going from temporary contract to temporary contract, sometimes for up to six years. How are we managing to be so confident that we are reducing the numbers?

Yes, it did.

You have highlighted that there seems not to be a grasp of the competing pressures. Where is that coming from? Is it the councils? Is it the Government? Why do they not get it?

I know that time is marching on.

I have a flavour of it, but I want to really understand what life is like in the classroom just now. We have heard about the various pressures. The question is for Andrea Bradley, in particular. We are just coming out of the pandemic—some people say that we are still in it—and there are significant mental health problems. There is pressure to perform on attainment and closing the attainment gap. I speak to many teachers, but I want to hear from you what life is like in the classroom.

I am finished, unless any other members of the panel want to come in.

What do you think that the consequences of that will be in the long and the short term?

I do not want to focus only on you, Andrea—maybe the others will come in in a second—but I know that you have focused on this area. Do you think that a rush to get back to the way things were might result in longer-term mental health problems, unemployment and criminal activities? We know that a whole range of issues come from the attainment gap, and the gap between the wealthy and the less wealthy. Do you think that the situation will get worse if we rush to get back to normal in the way that you have described?

I appreciate that the report is about far more than the personalities involved—it is about organisation, culture and broader leadership. I understand that. Nonetheless, how difficult will it be for the new qualifications Scotland body to win over the profession if the old leadership remains in place?

In your previous role with the General Teaching Council for Scotland, child protection will have been close to you. The GTCS made a submission in which it talked about—to put words in its mouth—the vacuum around regulation of employers when it comes to child protection and safeguarding. As you know, the GTCS has a role in regulating the profession, but because local authorities—the employers—are regarded as the front line in child protection, referrals are passed on to them to be dealt with. The GTCS does not necessarily know what happens to those referrals. It says that there is a gap in the system, because no one is regulating that aspect.

We know that local authorities sometimes manage people out, instead of dealing with issues head on. They are not necessarily doing anything that is inappropriate, but there is a tendency to manage issues out. Why did you not include in your report a recommendation on regulation of employers in that regard, given that the GTCS had suggested that there is a gap in the arrangements?

Thank you very much.