Schools should abide by NHS-style minimum staffing thresholds while every secondary in Scotland should appoint a business and finance manager, a body representing head teachers has said.
In response to a Scottish government review of how education is run, School Leaders Scotland also called for closer links between universities and teachers to help them develop professionally throughout their careers.
The organisation backed heads getting a greater say over the staff that worked in their schools as part of the “empowerment” of school leaders. It said it remained supportive of a middle layer of governance between schools and government but was open to an overhaul of the traditional role played by the country’s 32 councils.
Jim Thewliss, School Leaders Scotland’s general secretary, said that minimum teacher numbers in schools should be set nationally and operate in a similar way to NHS guidance for the minimum number of nurses on wards. Nicola Sturgeon has said she plans to enshrine NHS staffing levels in law.
He said: “If you’re looking at equality of provision for young people, then there should be equality in the staffing, a basic minimum standard.”
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He added that some schools already had business and finance managers but he backed implementation across the country. He added: “Head teachers are there to plan out learning; a business manager looks after the finances to enable them to do that.”
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities raised concerns about the review which is due to close next month. It warned that handing teachers more power, a key aim of the government, risked turning schools into “silos” that lacked democratic oversight. It said: “There is a real risk that by devolving accountability we allow unelected officials to take significant decisions on behalf of communities who already struggle to be heard.”