§ Mr. Buchananasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many uncertificated teachers are teaching in the various categories of Scottish schools, namely, primary, secondary, and further education; how many of these are uncertificated because of a technicality; and what facilities are available to assist the uncertificated teacher to gain the necessary qualification.
§ Mr. RossThe numbers of uncertificated teachers in public and grant-aided schools and in further education at 13th September, 1965 (the latest date for which figures are available) were: primary schools 1,238; secondary schools 1,508; further education 1,279 (the last figure does not include part-time teachers of evening classes, for whom statistics are not available).
Of the 2,746 uncertificated teachers in schools, 351 (of whom 57 were graduates) had been trained in other countries but did not hold a Scottish Teacher's Certificate; 331 were graduates who had not been trained, although many were experienced teachers; and 1,396 although not trained were skilled and often highly qualified in the specialised subjects (e.g., art, music) which they were teaching. All of the uncertificated teachers in further education were regarded as holding appropriate academic or technical qualifications.
Grants are available under the Special Recruitment Scheme to assist uncertificated teachers to become qualified, and in individual cases the Scottish Council for the Training of Teachers may accept shortened courses of training for those whose qualifications fall just short of the requirements for certification. Teachers in further education are not required to be certificated, but education authorities are encouraged to release those who are not certificated to undertake training.