Ten times more women than men working in Renfrewshire primary schools

A Freedom of Information request has shown 735 of the local authority’s teachers are women, leaving just 75 men in charge of classrooms. A total of 11 primary schools have no male teachers.

The data also revealed of the area’s 51 head teachers, 43 are women and eight are men.

Councillor Edward Grady, education spokesman for the Labour group, explained overall staffing numbers in schools should be considered a more pressing concern.

There are 810 teachers, excluding head teachers, across Renfrewshire’s 49 primary schools.

Cllr Grady believes all children in Renfrewshire should have access to committed teachers 

Councillor Grady said: “While I’m sure achieving a gender balance, equal opportunities and teacher diversity in schools is an issue which our education service takes seriously, when recruiting staff overall staffing numbers are somewhat more of a pressing concern.

“A wealth of education research exists which tells us that the most important factor in a young person’s school education is the quality of their teachers.

“Therefore, it is vital that given the national issue of insufficient teacher numbers, we ensure all children and young people in Renfrewshire have equitable access to the highly-skilled and committed teaching and support staff who have such an enormously positive impact upon both their educational and pastoral development.”

St James Primary School in Renfrew has the highest number of female teachers at 28. The Brown Street school also has the highest overall number of teachers at 31.
Meanwhile, the highest head count for male teachers is recorded at Williamsburgh Primary School in Paisley.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: “We are ambitious for all our children to reach their full potential.

“We have our own recruitment campaign ‘Teach in Renfrewshire’, which supports the national campaign to attract more people, male and female, into teaching.”