Education News - Education World News
Wednesday, 14 January 2009 22:03
Teachers in UK Scotland recruited from overseas
A local authority in UK Scotland is recruiting teachers from abroad to tackle a problem with filling vacancies at its most rural schools.
Aberdeenshire Council - which advertised more than 100 posts in Novemebr last year (2008) - said it that over half were teachers from overseas. Highland Council also revealed five of its 16 advertised posts had been vacant for more than three months.
Meanwhile, probationers - thousands of whom seek jobs each year - are also being lured to work in England. Fresh concerns have been raised by head teachers in Scotland about the availability of jobs for newly qualified teachers.
The issue also brought another worry over teaching into focus. Rural and remote regions of Scotland - including the Highlands, Aberdeenshire and the islands - continue to struggle to recruit staff.
More than 100 teaching vacancies are being advertised in these areas. Teachers' unions have said it was not always easy for new teachers to move from other parts of Scotland to work in rural areas because of family commitments.
Aberdeenshire Council advertises and has sent officers abroad to recruit staff. It currently has more than 60 overseas teachers from countries such as Australia, Canada, the USA, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Bruce Robertson, Aberdeenshire Council's director of education, said the north east authority was getting to grips with recruitment - partly by seeking staff from abroad.
He said: "Recruiting teachers is a challenge for the more rural areas in Aberdeenshire. "But we have been proactive in our recruitment initiatives, which include overseas recruitment, and as a consequence have made great inroads into the number of vacancies we once had in parts of rural Aberdeenshire."
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I'm from Colombia, I'm a foreign language teacher, I'm 26 years old, I have more than 2 years experience in teachin from elementary school to adults. I speak English, French, and Spanish is my first language.
Thank you for your time.