Miss E

A @ScotTories councillor, David Wilson has suggested that the £1.6 million Inverclyde Council spent on supply teachers “could be better spent elsewhere,” such as on potholes. That comment shows a complete misunderstanding of what is happening in Scottish education. It implies that keeping classrooms staffed, ensuring pupils are taught, and maintaining continuity in children’s learning is not a worthwhile use of public money. The truth is very different. Across Scotland, thousands of fully qualified, experienced teachers are unable to secure permanent or even fixed-term contracts. They are forced onto supply lists where there is very little work available. Many go weeks without a single paid day of teaching. This is not a choice or a lifestyle preference. It is a result of councils relying on insecure and casual employment rather than providing stable jobs. To suggest that £1.6 million spent on supply teachers is “waste” is deeply insulting. Supply teachers are not an optional extra. They are the reason classes continue when someone is unwell, on maternity leave, or when a post has not been filled. Without them, pupils would be sent home, and schools would not be able to function. The real problem is not that councils are spending too much on supply teachers. The problem is that they are failing to offer permanent posts that would make this spending unnecessary. Teachers deserve stability, and pupils deserve consistency. Both are being undermined by short-term contracts and financial short-sightedness. If councils want to reduce their reliance on supply staff, they must start by creating proper permanent positions and planning their workforce responsibly. Blaming teachers for systemic underfunding does nothing to solve the problem. Education is not an optional service and it is not comparable to road repairs. Children’s learning cannot be postponed or patched over. Investment in a stable teaching workforce is an investment in Scotland’s future. greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news…

📢 4,600+ teachers in Scotland stuck in insecure contracts. Councils block permanency, pupils lose continuity, talent is wasted. We demand: stop service-blocking, national supply register, real data + cap training. ✍️ Sign: change.org/scottishteachers

📢 4,600+ teachers in Scotland stuck in insecure contracts. Councils block permanency, pupils lose continuity, talent is wasted. We demand: stop service-blocking, national supply register, real data + cap training. ✍️ Sign: change.org/scottishteachers

Please repost!: @JennyGilruth @JohnSwinney @willie_rennie @Douglas4Moray @GlasgowPam @Miles4Lothian @jamiegreeneUK @RussellFindlay1 @AnasSarwar @_KateForbes @RozMccall @Ross_Greer @lornaslater @Emma_Seith @TesScotland @thisisgoradio @STVNews @BBCScotlandNews @Glasgow_Live @heraldscotland @ScotNational @sco

Please share @JennyGilruth @JohnSwinney @GlasgowPam @willie_rennie @Douglas4Moray @Emma_Seith @TesScotland @thisisgoradio @STVNews @BBCScotlandNews @Glasgow_Live @Glasgow_Times @heraldscotland @TheScotsman

🚨 PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION 🚨 Over 4,600 qualified teachers across Scotland are trapped in insecure contracts. Councils deliberately “break” our service by withholding shifts, stopping us from building the continuity needed for permanency. Teachers are forced to apply to multiple supply lists — some closed, many far from home. 👉 Please sign & share: chng.it/TyDjByBnXj

. @JennyGilruth @JohnSwinney @Douglas4Moray @GlasgowPam @Miles4Lothian @willie_rennie @TesScotland @BBCScotlandNews @STVNews @thisisgoradio

A long but needed explanation for full transparency after @JennyGilruth said in Parliament yesterday that she had tried to arrange a meeting with us but we didn’t reply, which is simply not true

Today in parliament @JennyGilruth stated that ‘her team’ had tried to organise a meeting with us several times. We sent an email on 27th June. A ‘special advisor’ emailed us 25th July. This person stated they were not acting on behalf of ‘either @JohnSwinney or @JennyGilruth’

Why is @JennyGilruth STILL sending lettters to constituents saying that she is due to meet us again later this year. @JennyGilruth has ignored over 12 emails sent to her asking for a follow up meeting. She has never contacted us again after our previous meeting in November 2024

We asked 555 Scottish teachers about their biggest achievement this year. One answered: “Not committing suicide.” This is what insecure work is doing to our profession. Full report tomorrow

Hi Brian, We know the Scottish Government doesn’t directly employ teachers. That’s your little “gotcha,” isn’t it? But who has direct responsibility for the delivery of education in Scotland? The Scottish Government. That’s the problem. They hide behind councils while thousands of qualified teachers sit jobless or on zero hour contracts. And no, pointing at councils in England going bust doesn’t excuse failure in Scotland. We live and teach here, if you hadn’t noticed. Try sticking to the topic.

Hi Brian, We do not need a course on how local government works. What we could do without is people like you pretending to explain it to us while ignoring the real reasons we are furious. Councils and the Scottish Government keep bouncing responsibility back and forth like a tennis ball. Councils say they cannot afford permanent jobs because of tight government budgets. The Government says it is all up to councils. Meanwhile, teachers like us are stuck on temporary contracts for years, moving from school to school with no security or stability. You have also ignored the fact that the Cabinet Secretary claims she has arranged to meet us, when she has actually ignored every email and follow-up we have sent for seven months. That is why we are angry. It is not just about how the system works on paper. It is about how it fails real people who are trying to build a life and a career. Our rage is not misplaced. It is aimed at a system that is failing teachers and pupils, while people like you brush it off instead of demanding the change that is so badly needed.

🚨We have sent a direct response to Cabinet Secretary @JennyGilruth this evening, addressing the letter that was published earlier today.🚨 —- Dear Cabinet Secretary Gilruth, Thank you for your letter dated 27 June 2025 (Reference: 202500468990) in response to Bill Kidd MSP’s correspondence regarding stakeholder inclusion in ‘A New Plan for Scotland’s Teaching Workforce’. We appreciate your acknowledgment of the important work being undertaken to address teacher recruitment and retention challenges in Scotland, and we welcome your commitment to continued engagement with our group. However, we must clarify that we have received no formal communication from your office since our meeting in November 2024. While your letter mentions that you “have committed to do so again in the future” and that you are “due to meet representatives of the group later this year,” we have not been informed of any specific meeting arrangements or received any correspondence regarding proposed dates. We were particularly disappointed that numerous letters were sent to constituent MSPs asking for Scottish Teachers for Permanence to be officially included in the ‘New Deal for Scotland’s Teaching Workforce’ that was voted through Parliament. Your letter mentions engagement with universities, local authorities, other stakeholders, School Leaders Scotland, COSLA, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, and other professional associations - yet there is a notable absence of any reference to Scottish Teachers for Permanence, despite the clear relevance of our members’ experiences to this workforce strategy. We very much welcome the opportunity for further engagement and would be grateful if you could: 1. Confirm the proposed meeting dates you referenced in your letter 2. Provide formal notification of the meeting arrangements through your office 3. Clarify the scope and format of the proposed engagement As you acknowledge in your letter, the challenges facing experienced teachers seeking permanent employment require urgent attention. The reduced ITE intake targets, while understandable, highlight the critical need to support and retain existing qualified teachers who are struggling to secure permanent positions. Our group remains committed to working constructively with the Scottish Government to address these challenges. We believe that meaningful stakeholder engagement, including the lived experiences of teachers affected by these issues, is essential to developing effective solutions. We look forward to receiving confirmation of the meeting arrangements and to continuing our dialogue on these important matters.

🚨 SHOCKING RESPONSE FROM JENNY GILRUTH 🚨 We’ve finally received a reply from Jenny Gilruth after months of silence. What she’s sent us is not just disappointing — it’s a complete betrayal of what she told us to our faces in November last year. Let’s be clear about what’s in this letter: 🔹 She repeats the excuse that local authorities are responsible for teacher employment — the same deflection we’ve been hearing for years while thousands of qualified teachers are stuck on insecure, zero-hour contracts. 🔹 She talks about funding — £186.5 million to councils — but offers no guarantees on how that money will lead to permanent contracts or improved job stability for experienced teachers like us. 🔹 She says she’s listening to teacher voices, but the only people she’s engaging with are unions, COSLA, GTCS, and School Leaders Scotland. Meanwhile, we — the very teachers affected by this crisis — are being completely shut out. 🔹 She mentions a review of probation and induction, but that only helps new teachers. Those of us with years of experience are still being passed from school to school without any job security, income stability, or real support. 💥 But here’s the real kicker: Jenny Gilruth claims she met with Scottish Teachers for Permanence in November 2024 (which she did — on the 27th), and that she’s “due to meet with representatives of the group later this year.” Let us be absolutely clear: 👉 That is a lie by omission. 👉 She has not communicated with us at all since that meeting. 👉 We have emailed, followed up, and reached out — and been ignored every single time. What’s worse is that during that meeting, she PROMISED we would be included in workforce planning and roundtable discussions going forward. That was the commitment. And now? In this letter, she lists every other stakeholder being included — and purposefully leaves us out. This isn’t an oversight. It’s a deliberate exclusion of frontline voices. Teachers who are actually living through this — applying for job after job, year after year, just to be bounced around schools with no permanent future. We are not being heard, we are being silenced.

It’s disappointing to see the education secretary @JennyGilruth post on her Facebook page about encouraging more people to train as teachers, as she moves onto her 7 month of ignoring our follow up emails asking for the meeting she promises in November.

Scottish Teachers deserve better. ‘Several years under my belt. Still trying ever so hard for a permanent post, I don’t know how long I can keep on doing this.’ @JennyGilruth @JohnSwinney @GlasgowPam @willie_rennie @Douglas4Moray @RozMccall @Emma_Seith @Henry_Hepburn