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ALAN DONNELLY – SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVES
The Scottish Conservatives want to deliver a gold standard of education for every child.
Many of our schools are performing very well but there are areas for improvement.
Aberdeen has high levels of teacher vacancies and the Scottish Government needs to help Aberdeen with relocation allowances to attract teachers.
Aberdeen is investing in new-build primary schools in Northfield, Bridge of Don, Torry, Tillydrone and a £47 million new South of the City Academy, despite being the lowest funded council in Scotland.
STEPHEN FLYNN – SNP
Education is our number one priority for the coming five years – the success of our young folk will determine the future success of our city.
We fully support the Attainment Fund which will see headteachers across the city receive nearly £3m of funding and, if the opportunity arises, we want to build upon that.
There have also been well-documented challenges in terms of teacher recruitment and we intend to introduce a rent-relief scheme to attract more newly-qualified teachers.
GUY INGERSON – SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY
With a rising population, Greens feel it’s important to ensure school provision keeps pace with that.
That means teacher recruitment and retention is a priority along with planning for new school facilities as and when required. Greens are also fully supportive of the Time for Inclusive Education campaign.
JENNY LAING – SCOTTISH LABOUR
Education remains our number one priority and we will continue to invest in our children and young people.
Over the last five years we have increased the education spend per pupil by 27% which has allowed us to close the attainment gap and we want to build on these firm foundations.
We have funding in place to employ dozens of new classroom assistants in schools across the city.
We recognise Aberdeen schools have suffered from the teacher shortages and that is why we will continue to lobby the Scottish Government for support in teacher recruitment, including more teacher training places at the University of Aberdeen.
IAN YUILL – SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS
Providing the best possible education is a key priority for the Liberal Democrats.
We will prioritise investment in schools and frontline education services, continue to modernise the city’s school buildings and work to attract more teachers to Aberdeen to tackle the shortage of teachers in our city.
We believe more power should be decentralised to schools, working with parents, to take decisions over the mix of staff, ethos and local priorities.
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