Convener, I wish to speak to support our Revenue Budget Amendment.
As Labour’s Education spokesperson, I want to focus on the impact of your SNP Administration’s proposals for further cuts in the number of teachers in our Primary Schools.
The visiting teachers of Music and PE enrich the teaching and learning of Music and PE in our Primary Schools so this is a universal service for every child in every primary school in Dundee. These teachers use their specialist skills and specialist qualifications to enhance the learning of these two important subjects. I know in my own area that the visiting PE Teacher not only contributes to the PE teaching in our three Primary Schools but also voluntarily takes an after school club or activity in each of the primary schools she supports. For example, in Barnhill Primary School she takes the Gymnastics Club. Now you can’t tell me that this is something that will be taken on by a class teacher with no specialist training or qualifications. This is particularly sad because the Council is converting the McTaggart Sports Centre in Old Glamis Road into a national centre for Gymnastics. It’s a pity we won’t be encouraging many gymnasts in our Primary Schools to get started on a route towards outstanding achievement in gymnastics. In relation to Music at another Primary School Parent Council meeting in the last fortnight, there was an appeal for volunteers to play the piano for the school show.The school's current pianist is their visiting music specialist who works at rehearsals and performances undertaking a variety of roles including pianist and the singing coach.
Talking of Excellence, two of the eight curriculum areas for the Curriculum for Excellence are:
- Health and Wellbeing and
- Expressive Arts
Related to the first is the national standard of two hours of quality PE for each pupil each week. You have to ask whether this cut will enhance the quality of PE in our primary schools? In relation to Music, if we want our primary children to appreciate music and aspire to playing more than air guitar, we should not be making this cut.
These targets and aspirations are empty promises if the resources are not available to support them in our schools.
Now if I turn to our budget measures to keep these teachers in our Primary Schools, they are measured and affordable. I will focus on the two chauffeur driven Civic Cars and our proposals to reduce these from two to one. Now at the outset we want to make it clear that we respect the Civic Offices of Lord Provost and Depute Lord Provost, that is why we have proposed to retain one Civic Car. But I think every family and household in Dundee has been making decisions to cut down on their journeys because their household budgets are being squeezed. It’s amazing to me that for the second year running we have suggested that we should reduce the number of civic chauffeur driven cars in the city from two to one and you Convener and all your SNP councillor colleagues resist this. I think the Dundee public will expect us to use buses, cars, taxis, bikes and shanks’s pony like them. Walking and cycling would also be good for our fitness and help reduce carbon emissions in our city. Will the Councillors who need to be chauffeur drive round the city please stand up now and be counted? Surely this is less important than our Primary school children and their visiting specialists teachers?
You can’t be proud of the fact that you have reduced the number of teachers in Dundee by 99 in the last year and this budget proposal will lead to a further reduction.
Even at this stage. I urge you and your SNP colleagues to change your mind and support our amendment and thereby protect the health and wellbeing and expressive arts teaching and learning of our Primary School Children in every one of our Primary Schools.
