Education / ‘It’s very disheartening’ – relative claims isles teachers being passed over for full-time jobs
TEACHERS in Shetland are being passed over for full-time jobs, leading to them to seek other careers, the relative of a supply teacher in the isles has claimed.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to Shetland News, the woman claimed that her relative had been unable to land a full-time teaching job despite qualifying and living here for years.
And she said that Shetland Islands Council (SIC) was passing the young woman, and other local people, over in favour of teachers from the mainland.
She criticised the SIC’s Grow Our Own Teachers programme, which has sought to fill vacancies by encouraging council staff to re-train as either primary or secondary teachers.
The woman said it “beggars belief” that the SIC was encouraging more folk to become teachers when some were left relying on supply work.
“There’s barely any primary vacancies, but that’s not just Shetland,” she said.
“Then you have the council training up all their own teachers, when they have people here that they’re not employing.
“Why are you needing to grow your own primary teachers when there’s no work for them?”
SIC education chief Samantha Flaws defended the Grow Our Own Teachers policy, saying it was part of a wider strategy to tackle workforce gaps now and into the future.
The woman who spoke to Shetland News said that her relation had been a supply teacher since she qualified several years ago, picking up “bits and pieces” of work in that time.
However she said she had been passed over for a number of permanent positions, including a recent role in the North Mainland.
That job had gone to a probationer who had just completed their placement year, the woman claimed.
“So in effect a permanent job was offered to someone who was relatively inexperienced,” she said.
“There were at least two teachers living in Shetland with many more years’ experience under their belt.”
Speaking about her relative, the woman said that she had been told by fellow teachers that her application and CV “looked good” before she applied.
But then she would miss out on the job, which the woman said had left her relative thinking “what else can I do”.
“You kind of lose heart a bit,” the woman said.
“I do appreciate that there’s not a lot of primary teacher jobs going, but it is very disheartening”.
She added that the SIC was “using a lot of retired teachers” too in supply jobs, which was “not really giving young ones a chance to get their foot in the door”.
The woman said that her relative was now applying for jobs outside of teaching after being left disillusioned by her chances.
“It is very disheartening, and you need to get on with your life, you need some money,” she said.
“She can’t afford to just do nothing.”
Flaws said that she could not comment on individual cases, but said all teachers were appointed “through robust and fair recruitment and selection processes”.
“For short-term cover, head teachers are responsible for deploying staff from the supply register based on the needs of their school, ensuring the right match of skills and experience for each situation,” she added.
The education chief also defended the Grow Our Own Teachers project, saying it had been developed in response to long-term recruitment challenges.
“Like many rural and island authorities, we have an ageing workforce and a number of posts that are increasingly hard to fill,” Flaws said.
“Grow Our Own Teachers is part of our wider strategy to address workforce challenges now and into the future.
“Supporting people who enjoy working with children and young people, and already live in Shetland, to train as teachers, is helping us build stability and ensures that schools can continue to meet the needs of children and young people.
“It also helps address the very real accommodation challenges that teachers from the mainland often experience when relocating to the islands.
“By enabling local residents to enter the profession, we are reducing a significant barrier to recruitment.
“We remain committed to supporting a high quality, stable and well resourced teaching workforce, and Grow Our Own is one part of that wider strategy.”
Shetland Islands Council said last month that it had supported four students into full-time teaching placements through the Grow Our Own Teachers project.
A further two people were studying secondary teaching this year, it said, with another seven expressions of interest in moving into teaching in 2026.
The council announced in January 2024 it would look within its existing workforce in a bid to fill a number of vacant teaching jobs.
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