1,500 More Classroom Assistants

Anas Sarwar has unveiled plans to deliver an additional 1,500 classroom assistants in Scotland, including 300 assistants dedicated to specialist ASN support. 

Under Scottish Labour’s plans to reduce teacher workloads and offer more 1:1 support to pupils, local authorities will get direct funding for 1,500 more classroom assistants in schools across the country.

This will include at least 300 new classroom assistants located in specialist ASN schools or units so that children with the greatest needs get increased support.

The number of pupils with Additional Support Needs in Scotland is at its highest point on record, having increased to 43 per cent of all pupils.

However, the SNP has overseen a drastic cut in support, allowing the number of ASN teachers to drop by 19.5 per cent since 2010.

Anas Sarwar warned that kids are “falling through the cracks” under the SNP, but pledged that Scottish Labour will set up every child to succeed.

This pledge to boost the number of classroom assistants forms part of a wider package of measures designed to raise standards and improve support in our schools, including a new charter on behaviour and national standards for numeracy and literacy.

Commenting, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said “Scotland’s education system was once the envy of the world, but under the SNP standards are slipping and children are falling through the cracks.

“The incompetence of John Swinney and the SNP has left teachers struggling to cope and robbed kids of the chance to learn.

“While the number of kids needing additional support soared, the SNP cut ASN services to the bone – it is indefensible.

“The SNP cannot get the basics right and we owe it to the next generation to demand better.

“A Scottish Labour government led by me will fix the mess the SNP has made, deliver the leadership that has been missing and build an education system that sets every child up to succeed .

“We will put more classroom assistants in classrooms across the country and we will make sure ASN support delivers for the kids who need it most.

“In May Scotland has a choice between more of the same with the SNP or a better future for Scotland’s children with Scottish Labour.”

Scottish Labour will:

Provide direct funding for local authorities to boost the number of classroom assistants by 1,500 across the country, directed to the schools most in need.

Ensure at least 300 of the new classroom assistants are located in ASN schools and units to support pupils with the highest levels of additional support needs.

Establish national standards for numeracy and literacy, emphasising the primacy of knowledge and setting out clearly what young people should know by each stage so that they are prepared for whatever future they choose.

Establish a National Charter on Behaviour and Standards, providing national leadership on discipline in schools, empowering head teachers and setting out a clear pathway of consequences.