New statistics revealed today by the Times Educational Supplement Scotland (TESS) showed that older teachers ar not delaying their retirement, putting paid to the argument that they are partially responsible for the desperate job prospects facing new teachers.
The most common retirement age of teachers has actually fallen over the past three years - from 62 years in 2007-08 to 60 years in 2009-10 - according to the Scottish Public Pensions Agency. Its figures revealed that the average retirement age was 61.86 in 2007-08; 60.98 in 2008-09; and 60.16 in 2009-10.
The TESS reports that since the teacher jobs crisis began to bite, one explanation consistently put forward by the SNP Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) for the lack of posts for new entrants was that older teachers were putting off retirement beyond 60 because of the impact of the economic downturn on them and their families. But Ronnie Smith from the EIS said: "This finally lays to rest the myth that older teachers deferring retiral are blocking job opportunities for new teachers."
The reason we have almost 2500 fewer teachers in Scotland and only 11 per cent of newly qualified teachers have obtained permanent posts is because of the SNP's mis-management of Scotland’s education system and their broken promises. SNP education cuts in the good times when Scottish Government budgets were expanding will be compounded in the future by the Tory/Liberal cuts in the pipeline.
The SNP’s educational legacy is fewer teachers, fewer classroom assistants, hardly any jobs for newly qualified teachers, teaching unions on the brink of strikes, parents fundraising for books and essential equipment and not one school yet built by the Scottish Futures' Trust in the term of this parliament.
