The region’s education system will struggle to recruit and hang on to teachers – unless a four-and-a-half day week is implemented.
That was the warning at the latest education committee meeting – when consideration of a switch to half-day Fridays topped the agenda.
Education chiefs told councillors that learning and work/life balance benefits for pupils and teachers had prompted the move.
But they also accepted that “challenges” over retaining staff had emerged as an equally important factor.
The admission came after an intervention by Annandale North Councillor Carolyne Wilson.
She had been speaking to headteachers – who were not all on board with the potential timetable change.
She said: “Most of them only saw the benefit for recruitment and retention.”
Jim Brown, the council’s chief education officer, agreed with the assessment.
He said: “You’re absolutely right, the headteachers will see the practicalities of recruitment and retention issue very clearly. This will be a significant benefit to that. If we were to remain a five-day week, we would then very likely have challenges around recruitment.
“However, just to reiterate, today we’re not really talking about that.
“We’re simply saying we’d like the opportunity to seek your approval to reach out to our communities to understand better what they feel, what they think, and what their concerns and worries are.”
The council’s education department have drawn up plans for a comprehensive consultation process on the proposed timetable changes at secondary schools.
This will involve parents and carers, the region’s youth council, all school staff (teaching and non-teaching), trade unions, other council services and partner organisations.
The consultation will consist of a blend of focus groups, community conversations, presentations and online questionnaires to gather the views of the wider community.
This was set to run from June until September, however, council leader Gail Macgregor and several other councillors believe this is too tight a timescale because council staff will be diverted doing other tasks due to the general election.
Councillor Macgregor said: “I do think that we’ll have to extend the timeline and look practically at whether we can actually start in June.”
Annandale South Councillor George Jamieson, the SNP group’s education spokesman, stressed that the consultation process should include research and facts from other local authorities where such timetables have already been implemented.
He added: I get fed up of people calling it a four-and-a-half day week, it’s an asymmetric working week rather than the assumption we get a half day off.”
A restructure of the secondary school timetable would mean a slightly earlier start of 8.50am for period one lessons, 50 minutes of learning time for each class, and the day split into seven periods between Monday to Thursday.
On Fridays, there would be just five periods, with the first at 8.50am and the last one finishing at 1.40pm before the bell for the week rings.
The total learning time for the week would remain the same but all 16 high schools would finally be operating under one single timetable.
The intention is to roll out a four-and-a-half day week to primary schools also at a later date.
It was agreed to run the consultation but it will be extended until October 11, and then the findings will be brought back to a special council meeting in November.
