Glasgow school staff 'sickened' ahead of losing jobs amid education cuts

Eleven school staff in Glasgow are to lose their jobs this month as education cuts take effect.

The staff are all part of the Developing The Young Workforce team, who help young people gain experience to support them finding work.

One member described feeling “sickened” at the news their jobs were being cut, which they found out about on February 26.

The staff who are on fixed term contracts have been told their employment will come to an end on March 31. It comes as there is no confirmation of funding from the Scottish Government.

Due to having under two years of service, the employee said: “We don’t qualify for redeployment or get redundancy.

“I have been in a school doing everything I can to support the school community. A lot of young people struggle to get into school five days a week and can’t cope. They need people like us to enable other opportunities whether that is training or workplace visits to get them thinking about the world of work. I don’t want to see them left behind. Teachers are already overburdened.”

The staff member who does not want to be named said there has a been a lack of transparency about the cuts to the service.

It is understood other staff will be redeployed elsewhere.

Chair of Glasgow City Parents Group Leanne McGuire said: “The continued stripping of resources and staffing in education is extremely worrying for parents and carers. We already know how stretched schools are and how they struggle to meet our children’s needs.

“The lack of investment in education only decreases opportunities for pupils, particularly our most vulnerable pupils, and gives families the message that their children’s education is not a priority.”

She added: “The ongoing challenges we hear of across the education landscape like absence rates increasing, inadequate additional support for learning, and challenging behaviour will not improve if councils and the Scottish Government continue to undervalue the investment required to provide our children with the quality education they deserve.”

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “We are still waiting for confirmation of the annual external funding for the posts and staff and trade unions will be updated on developments.

“A meeting was held to let staff know and we realise that the uncertainty will be causing a level of anxiety and our hope is we hear news of the funding very soon.”

A mentoring service – called MCR Pathways – is also under threat due to council cuts it is understood.