Americans Need Not Apply

Stirling Observer:

Teachers from Canada and Ireland could be recruited to work in Scotland in an attempt to tackle a shortage of classroom staff.

Education chiefs in Aberdeenshire Council said they are taking "innovative" action to fill teaching vacancies in the area.

A team of three interviewers from the local authority has already travelled to Dublin and Toronto where they have spoken to more than 30 newly qualified teachers. The council hopes the move will help them recruit high-quality staff looking for their first teaching job.

The authority's spring teacher recruitment campaign saw 138 vacancies in primary and secondary schools filled. But there are still around 40 positions which are vacant, with councillor Isobel Davidson, chair of Aberdeenshire Council's education, learning and leisure committee conceding that they are "continuing to struggle to fill these posts".

Both Ireland and Canada are said to have high levels of newly qualified teachers who have not yet managed to find work in the classroom.

Teachers recruited from there to work in Aberdeenshire will be allocated a teaching role in either a primary school or a secondary in the area. They will receive a full induction, covering Scottish education standards, a temporary work visa and will have their accommodation and travel costs paid. At a cost of £4,000 to £5,000 per teacher, the council hopes this will provide a short-term solution to its recruitment difficulties.