Council chiefs in Angus have apologised for a “terrible” recruitment error which saw dozens of applicants for teaching posts wrongly told they had secured permanent jobs.
Forty-six people who had been interviewed for 10 full-time jobs with the council received an email telling them they had all been successful.
But it later emerged that the emails had been sent by mistake – and 36 of the applicants were then told they had not, in fact, been recruited.
The local authority admits the blunder will have had a “terrible” impact on those who were looking for permanent employment, and says the mistake was down to “human error”.
‘There are nearly 40 devastated teachers’
A whistleblower told The Courier many of the applicants are already working in Angus Council schools on a temporary basis, and the incident has left them feeling “deflated and undervalued”.
Our source said: “Many teachers found out, when they were in school or in class, [about] the enormous error and they did not in fact have a job at all.
“Other teachers received calls from the recruiters to advise, some from head teachers, and others read an email which merely stated: ‘Please disregard the previous email. You should have received this one. Apologies for any confusion.’
“Understandably, there are now nearly 40 devastated teachers working today… trying to act as if it is business as usual.
“They will continue to do their best and be their best for Angus children but will most definitely be feeling deflated and undervalued.
“Many of these temporary teachers are teaching in class full-time, supporting and challenging young learners every day.
“Other temporary teachers have the important job of working with children who require learning support, developing learners’ skills and abilities to allow to progress as much as possible.”
The whistleblower claims that many temporary teachers are considering leaving the profession due to the “lack of security and feelings of worth as an employee”, and says the situation is having a detrimental impact on their mental health.
They added: “Children have no consistency when temporary teachers and appearing and disappearing like whack-a-moles.
“Many classes have three temporary teachers working across the week – rather than one permanent, full time teacher – which causes anxiety and stress for the children and their parents.
“Is Angus council ‘getting it right for every child‘ as they would lead us to believe?
“The teachers who face unemployment come June 2022 face no job security whatsoever, with many of these teachers unable to get mortgages, start families or make any concrete plans in their personal life.”
An Angus Council spokesperson said: “Unfortunately due to human error, some applicants to potential teaching posts received the incorrect email regarding the outcome of the recruitment process.
“We take very seriously the wellbeing of our workforce and appreciate that for those who received the wrong email this must have been terrible.
Systems reviewed after ‘human error’
“We apologise for any distress caused to those who were effected and are reviewing our systems as a result of this error.
“Angus Council recruited temporary staff in accordance with funding for temporary staff provided by Scottish Government.
“This latest round of recruitment to permanent positions was as a result of confirmation of funding for permanent staff.
“In recent weeks we have conducted interviews and recruited 10 permanent primary teachers.
“We have also increased our staff in secondary schools by the equivalent of 10 full-time teachers.”
Were you one of the people who wrongly received an email? Talk to us in confidence at livenews@thecourier.co.uk
