Proposals to axe around 800 teaching posts to save money have apparently been drawn up by officials at Glasgow City Council.
At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, claimed the details emerged from a leaked document.
He quoted the general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) as saying “this would potentially write off the current generation of young people”.
Mr Ross asked Nicola Sturgeon if she was aware “that an SNP-run council was considering such a drastic cut in teacher numbers”.
The first minister said: “This, of course, is that time of year when we get lots of reports about savings options that different councils are considering, and opposition parties quite understandably make hay with that.
“But very often these proposals do not proceed, and I think the official report of this parliament will be littered with examples of what I’ve just spoken about.
“In terms of these particular proposals, I’ve not seen the details of these.”
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Ms Sturgeon added that she was “in favour of more teachers, not fewer”.
Glasgow city council, Scotland’s biggest local authority, is facing a £68m shortfall for the year ahead and will set its budget next month.
The report comes as teachers across the country walk out in rolling strikes in a dispute over pay.
‘You are cutting young people’s life chances down’
Seamus Searson, the SSTA’s general secretary, said: “If you start cutting back the number of teachers, you are really damaging education. After the pandemic we are still in the stage of recovery and a lot of youngsters have missed out on basic learning coming through.
“Talking about cutting back the number of teachers is nonsense at this stage – we should be adding additional teachers – the needs of the youngsters have gone up over the last few years.
“Because of the pandemic, youngsters are potentially up to about two years behind where they should be. If you don’t put extra resources in, all you’re going to do is make that even worse.
“If you cut teachers you are cutting young people’s life chances down.”
Glasgow city council stressed that the proposals are such and no decision has been taken.
“As part of the annual budget-setting process, a cross-party group of councillors works with officers to scrutinise and develop options on where savings and investment could be considered,” a spokesperson said.
“The financial challenge facing the council this year is exceptionally tough – with savings of around £68m required, even before pressure on social work and care services are taken into account.
“Political groups will present their budget proposals next month – and it is for them to decide whether they wish to include any of these options.”
