A primary teacher from East Kilbride said she and many others are going months without work and may be forced to change careers, as figures show a collapse in the number of new teachers securing permanent contracts. Lauren Shepherd, 27, went through years of training to pursue her dream of teaching. Now, she is facing a second consecutive year on effectively a zero-hours contract, unsure of whether any work will come in.
To qualify in the first place, Lauren did a Higher National Certificate, followed by two years at university and a postgraduate course in primary education - all the while doing various volunteering and placement positions in schools. She said: “I remember telling a lecturer at college that I had this big plan to become a teacher. “It wasn’t a fleeting choice.
I worked really hard to get there over a number of years, and I had a lot of experience going into it.” (Image: Stock image) In Scotland , teachers must complete a one-year probationary placement before qualifying. Lauren spent her probation year teaching a primary 1 class, and did so well that she was offered a year’s contract at the same school.
“Once I got that contract, I thought everything would be fine after that,” she said. Sadly though, this was not the case. After her 12-month contract ended last summer, Lauren interviewed with her local council for a new role.
Although she passed the interview, she was informed that there were no roles available. She was placed on South Lanarkshi.