Scottish Government funding has boosted teacher numbers in Falkirk district as part of the SNP’s commitment to education.
Falkirk West MSP Michael Matheson welcomed figures that show the number of teachers in the Falkirk Council area increased from 1605 last year to 1620 this year.
It’s part of an increase of 543 teachers across Scotland, with 666 full-time positions now being financed through the Attainment Scotland Fund.
There has also been an improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio across Scotland, while reading, writing, listening, talking and numeracy skills are strong. The proportion of S3 pupils achieving Curriculum for Excellence Third Level or better is between 88% and 91% for each skillset.
Mr Matheson said: “The SNP has made closing the attainment gap a key priority of this Parliament – and these latest statistics show that we’re making good progress.
“Despite opposition by the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems, who all voted against the Attainment Scotland Fund, the SNP is delivering funding aimed at increasing teacher numbers, which is already showing results.
“We now have 15 more teachers in Falkirk district than we did this time last year, and an additional 543 across Scotland. With this record of delivery, it’s no surprise that pupils are performing strongly across reading, writing, listening, talking and numeracy.
“It’s important that we keep working to improve education in Scotland and, given the clear progress that has been made, it would be good to see opposition parties getting behind our positive efforts to support young people across Falkirk district.”
