In the latest round of Education Cuts in Dundee, the SNP Administration are proposing to remove smaller class sizes in Primary One classes where previously introduced in the City Primary Schools. This is an shameful abandonment of their local and national promises to voters to introduce a maximum class size of 18 in Primary 1-3 classes. This will be very disappointing for parents and carers whose children are coming up to P1 in the schools where this had been introduced.
They are also proposing to abandon the universal provision of smaller class sizes - an average of twenty - for Maths and English in S1 and S2. In a divisive move, they are proposing to remove this from five of the nine secondary schools in Dundee apparently having regard to the Council's Fairness Strategy. This means that Maths and English classes in the five secondary schools can be will be as large as 33 pupils. This would represent a huge increase.
I think many parents will think this will be rough justice if this applies to their children in their Secondary School. I am sure there will be immediate demands in the city by parents, carers and teachers to know which schools this will apply to and what effect it will have on teaching and learning in Maths and English for children in those schools affected.
It seems that so many of Labour's steady improvements to the staffing levels in our schools are being carelessly removed by the SNP's successive cuts in Education in Dundee.
Although we were told in a report to Council earlier this week that, we had to to maintain teacher numbers, as part of the local government settlement between the Scottish Government and Councils, here we are again seeing further cuts in teacher numbers with up to thirty more front line teacher posts disappearing this year.
