School pupils are being “short-changed” as teacher numbers in Dundee plummeted to their lowest point since 2003, a senior education figure has said.
Scottish Government education statistics also revealed the pupil/teacher ratio in the city has increased from 11.7 to 12.9 since the SNP came to power in 2007 and the percentage of P1-3 pupils being taught in a class of 18 or fewer has dropped from 5.6% to just 2.8% over the same period.
Education leaders and opposition politicians slammed the nationwide tumbling teacher numbers, while new Education Secretary Angela Constance admitted class sizes were “disappointing”.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teachers’ union, said: “To continue to cut teacher levels is to short-change pupils in our schools, with worrying potential consequences for both these young people and for the whole of Scotland.”
A report by the Accounts Commission this summer highlighted the fact Dundee had the country’s joint lowest achievement rates, with just 28% of S4 pupils achieving five equivalents to a credit level standard grade.
Teacher numbers in Dundee fell from 1,530 in 2007 to 1,407 in 2014, according to the new figures.
In Angus there was a drop from 1,185 to 1,143 over the same period but numbers increased from 3,527 to 3,529 in Fife and from 1,321 to 1,374 in Perth and Kinross.
Also revealed in the report was that average class size for Scottish pupils in the first three years of primary increased slightly from 23.2 in 2013 to 23.3 in 2014.
In 2007 the SNP made a manifesto commitment to cut class sizes between P1-3 to a maximum of 18 pupils.
However, fewer than one in eight pupils in these years are being taught in a class that small.
There has also been a rise in the number of early primary pupils in a class with more than 26 pupils, from 42,908 last year to 45,539 this year.
Legislation was introduced in November 2010 to limit class sizes for Primary 1 pupils to a maximum of 25 unless there were exceptional circumstances.
Ms Constance said: “Everyone involved in education from the Scottish Government to the local councils want to see real progress made.
“We must redouble our efforts to accelerate improvements in attainment and to ensure that all young people have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”
Labour’s education spokeswoman, Kezia Dugdale, hit out, saying: “Our schools are creaking, our teachers are stressed, parents are anxious and pupils are suffering.”