Number of educational psychologists practising in Scotland ‘down 10% since 2010’
The number of school psychologists practising in Scotland has fallen by a tenth in three years, the Education Secretary has revealed.
The number of school psychologists practising in Scotland has fallen by a tenth in three years, the Education Secretary has revealed.
There were 370 trained educational psychologists practising in Scottish local authorities in 2015, 10% fewer than the 411 practising in 2012.
The drop comes at a time when the number of children with additional needs has soared by 16%.
Scottish Labour inequality spokeswoman Monica Lennon, who obtained the figures from John Swinney in a parliamentary question, said the drop raises concerns that young people are not getting the support they need.
She said: "This drop in the number of staff treating our vulnerable young people comes amidst a backdrop of repeated missed targets for mental health treatment.
"Vulnerable young people aren't getting the support and treatment they need because of cuts to our public services.
"Whilst we will face profound challenges in the aftermath of the EU referendum, we cannot allow our Scottish Parliament to be entirely distracted by and focused on the constitution when vulnerable children aren't getting the support they need.
"With the new powers of our Scottish Parliament, Labour will continue to make the case to use the powers to tax the richest so we can invest in education and stop the cuts to our public services.''
Stuart Jacob, director of Falkland House School and a member of the Scottish Children's Services Coalition, said the drop is "very disappointing''.
"This fall comes at a time of greatly increased demand,'' he said.
"The number of pupils identified with additional support needs has increased markedly from 131,621 in 2013 to 153,190 in 2015.''
He added: "The drastic fall is in part due to the Scottish Government's decision in 2012 to remove the bursary paid to each trainee educational psychologist over the full two-year period of the course.
"This means that trainees need to have access to around £25,000 each year for two years to self-fund course fees, travel and living expenses.''
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "It is for each local authority to take decisions around the number of educational psychologists it employs.
"The Scottish Government recognises and values the role that educational psychologists play in supporting learners.
"We chair the National Scottish Steering Group for Educational Psychologists, enabling us to work in partnership with the profession and other stakeholders to ensure a sustainable supply of educational psychologists to meet future needs."