Education bosses must cut out red tape for teachers

That was the view of Education Scotland’s HM Inspectors on Falkirk Council’s approach to tackling unnecessary bureaucracy within its schools.

At a meeting of the council’s education committee on Tuesday, members heard a recent inspection of the authority’s school system came up with a number of points to improve upon, including primary teachers’ frustrations over the amount of time required for daily and weekly planning.

Members heard teachers were supposed to complete weekly and daily plans so supply teachers could come in, if the regular teacher happened to be off work for some reason, and teach the class by following the same plan.

Other concerns included secondary teachers’ feeling there is a lack of moderation of standards between primary and secondary schools.

Committee convener Alan Nimmo was disappointed by the findings of the report.

He said: “They spent a day here and came up with a critical report identifying three points to look at. I think the action plan we have come up with will deal with this.”

Councillor Tom Coleman added: “We should look on this as an opportunity to look at the structures. It would be a good idea to have a real in depth review on this.”

The council’s education officers will now progress their action plan and report back to the committee.