Deputy First Minister John Swinney has announced that the Scottish government will put £1.5 million towards a training scheme for head teachers to develop leadership skills.
The Hunter Foundation will also invest £1 million in the scheme towards leadership academies.
Excellence in Leadership will aim to help school leaders to “build skills and capacity in critical self-awareness, leadership of learning, leading system change, organisational effectiveness and working beyond the school with community champions.”
Mr Swinney said: “Effective school leadership is key to the success of schools. As a result, it’s vital we invest in our head teachers and support them to deliver superb schooling for children in Scotland.
“The head teacher role is challenging but hugely rewarding and I want to support teachers to take the step to headship while also committing to supporting head teachers already in post.”
Labour’s Education, Skills and Science spokesperson Iain Gray agrees with the scheme but feels the bigger issue lies elsewhere.
Mr Gray said: “The bigger problem is that for ten years now we’ve seen education budgets squeezed and cut year on year.
“The biggest issue head teachers face is the pressures of trying to deliver the world-class education service with fewer and fewer teachers.”
Sir Tom Hunter, chairman of The Hunter Foundation said: “Education is the enabler, the leveller of playing fields but to deliver that we need great leadership in our schools.
“The pace of change in the world of work is an incredible challenge for our school leaders and teachers – 65% of our young people joining Primary School this year will go to jobs that don’t even exist today.”
Caledonian Spectator 