by Bill Heaney
Dame Jackie Baillie has blasted the SNP Government of “failing a generation” after data revealed falling teacher numbers in Argyll & Bute’s schools.
The politician said the SNP had failed to deliver on a series of education pledges to benefit the nation’s young people.
Former SNP Leader and ex-First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, promised in 2015 that her party would close the attainment gap – the academic achievement difference between Scotland’s richest and poorest pupils – entirely by 2026.
The party also pledged to employ an additional 3,500 teachers and classroom assistants in schools in the run up to the 2021 Holyrood election.
But almost four years on, and after the Covid pandemic took a further toll on education, teacher numbers continue to fall.
The Scottish Government’s own figures show that 840 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) teachers were employed in education settings in Argyll & Bute – including Early Learning – in 2025.
The number has slumped from 872 in 2021.
The SNP has failed to deliver the recovery promised. Scottish Labour has said that these statistics show that progress remains slow on key measures.
Nationally, there are 810 fewer teachers than in 2021.
However, the attendance figure has dropped dramatically since 2016/17, when it reached 93.7.
The persistent absence rate across all sectors is 30.2 per cent in the area – above the Scottish figure of 28.5 per cent.
National figures show some improvement to literacy and numeracy and a slight narrowing of the attainment gap – however, the attainment gap remains significant.
Dumbarton constituency MSP, Jackie Baillie, commented: “The SNP has failed to deliver on public services in Scotland.
“Long waiting lists for hospital treatment continue, police officer numbers have slumped, prisons are over-crowded and courts are overwhelmed.
“It is no surprise that another SNP election promise lies in tatters, but sadly the Scottish Government now continues to also fail our young people.
“They have failed a generation and left them paying the price for the SNP’s broken promises and failed pledges.
“Rather than delivering on the promise of extra teachers, the numbers of educators in our schools has fallen. Teachers, like other public sector workers, are under increasing pressure and pupils are being let down.
Dame Jackie Baillie challenges First Minister John Swinney on education promises delivery.
“Our children are still missing out on the education they deserve and poorer communities are struggling to make up ground on attainment.”
Ms Baillie, who is also Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, added: “Education is the route to a better future and the SNP has been slow to fill in the cracks, to stop our young people falling through.
“John Swinney was the Education Secretary during the pandemic, the Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery and now he is the First Minister – he is responsible for failing to tackle this crisis.
“Scottish Labour will step up and take real action to tackle the damaging level of absences wreaking havoc in Scotland’s schools so every child gets the chance to learn.”
Pupil and teacher characteristics 2025:
- The number of teachers in Scotland fell from 54,285 in 2021 to 53,475 in 2025.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/pupil-and-teacher-characteristics-2025/
School attendance, absence and exclusions statistics 2024-25:
- The attendance rate in 2024/25 was 91.0%.
- The rate of persistent absence (Percentage of pupils who were absent 10% or more of all half day sessions) was 28.5% in 2024/25, a decrease compared to 31.4% in 2023/24 but higher than the pre-COVID-19 (2018/19) level of 21.8%.
- Unauthorised absence was 3.7% in 2024/25.
- Attendance decreased with increased deprivation in 2024/25; the attendance rate for pupils in the 20% least deprived areas was 94.1% compared to 87.6% for pupils in the 20% most deprived areas, a gap of 6.5 percentage points. This is lower than the gap of 6.7 percentage points in 2023/24.
https://www.gov.scot/publications/school-attendance-absence-and-exclusions-statistics-2024-25/
Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels, 2024-25:
- The attainment gap among primary pupils combined was at 19.4pp for literacy.
- The attainment gap among primary pupils combined was at 16.6pp for numeracy.
- The literacy attainment gap among S3 pupils was 10.8pp.
- The numeracy attainment gap among S3 pupils was 11.6pp.
https://www.gov.scot/news/achievement-of-curriculum-for-excellence-cfe-levels-2024-25/