‘I pull pints at football stadium as there are no teaching jobs’

Behind the bar at Dunfermline Athletic’s East End Park stadium, Angelene Currie is pulling pints for thirsty football fans.

It’s not a job she envisaged doing after spending six years training to be a primary school teacher.

But at the end of her probation year she found no permanent teaching work was available.

“You do all this training and then swept to the side. That’s what it feels like. You’re just forgotten about,” Angelene told STV News.

And she’s not alone as qualified teachers across the country are struggling to find permanent work and feeling forgotten about.

Furthermore, the number of teachers getting full-time contracts in Scotland is plummeting.

Every teacher is guaranteed a probationary year of work upon graduation, with the costs being met by the Scottish Government.

Local councils then pay for supply work, temporary and permanent positions. But many teachers have been forced to leave the profession or find alternative work to make ends meet after completing their probationary year.

“The council are saying they have no money,” said Angelene. “I’m in the same position as hundreds of other people so you’ve just got to pick up and work where you can. You’ve still got bills to pay.”

As well her job at Dunfermline Athletic, Angelene has returned to working in a nursery during the week.

She said: “I’m fortunate I’ve managed to scrape bits of work together which hundreds of others, especially ones that are doing the four-year course.

“They have trained to be a primary school teacher, they leave school, they do the training, they do their probation year and there isn’t anything there. But minimum wage is still a wage coming in. It’s a struggle but you do what you can.

“You are living hand to mouth, you are working twice the amount of hours, you are getting less money, no sick pay, because it is all these minimum wage places. It’s not right.”

Angelene decided on a career change shortly before her 50th birthday.

“I would have chosen a different career,” she said. It used to be the fact you trained to be a teacher and that’s the job you had at the end of it. Not now it’s not. It’s definitely got worse.”

“A lot of people are losing their homes. There’s hundreds just within Fife Council that are all in the same boat.”

Angelene, a grandmother-of-two, has a mortgage to pay and says she’s not in a position to move across the country. 

Last year, one in every six primary teachers (16.6%) moved directly from probation to a permanent contract.

That is down from more than half in 2017. (57.6%).

In Fife the figure dropped to just 14% in that same time and it’s a similar picture in other local authority areas.

In Angus, it fell from 74 to 10% and Glasgow has seen a similar drop.

‘It’s very disheartening, really upsetting’

Katie Tudhope is another newly-qualified teacher still looking for permanent work, but has had no success so far three years on from her probationary year.

“Temporary, temporary, another head teacher, so nothing that’s relevant for me, unfortunately,” she said.

“I think it’s one of those careers where you think ‘ok, once you’ve trained and you’ve put in that hard work, that you will have a steady income and you can start to look towards your future.

“But that’s not been something that I’ve been able to do. It’s very disheartening, really upsetting and quite disappointing that’s been the result of all the hard work I’ve put in.

Katie has returned to working in hospitality and also volunteers with charities and youth groups.

She is now looking to move abroad to find work and says she has friends who are also selling up and leaving Scotland in a bid to secure permanent teaching jobs.

The campaign group Scottish Teachers for Permanence is calling on the Scottish Government to create permanent employment opportunities for qualified teachers

James Orr, the group’s organiser, said: “The reality of supply teaching in 2024 is that teachers who may have once worked all year, albeit on a temporary contract, are lucky to have had a couple of days work this session.

“Many of our members have reported having absolutely no work at all. The consequences of this for teachers are bleak. Teachers report having to apply for universal credit and struggle working odd jobs to make ends meet for their families in an already tumultuous economic climate. 

“The issues we face are not limited to a small group of individuals but it’s the beginning of a system completely crumbling. It’s unsustainable for those lucky enough to have jobs to pick up the pieces given the additional needs of learners lack of resources and funding within our schools.”

While councils are responsible for recruitment the Scottish Government says it is doing what it can to maximise the number of posts available.

A spokesperson said: “While the recruitment and deployment of teachers is the responsibility of local authorities, the Scottish Government is doing everything it can to help maximise the number of teaching jobs available. As part of this, we are providing £145.5m to local authorities to protect teacher numbers.

“It is encouraging to note that the number of school teachers in post has increased by 8% since 2014. The number in permanent posts has remained stable at more than 80% over the past 10 years.

“While we cannot direct teachers where to work, it is important to note that teacher vacancies arise across Scotland throughout the year and we are aware that there areas of the country with jobs available.”

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