YOU do not need a qualification in advanced mathematics to work out that, if the number of qualified educational psychologists is falling while the number of school pupils requiring their services is rising, you are going to have problems. And, considering the statutory obligation to provide such services, these problems could be serious.
The Scottish Government’s spending review of 2011 paved the way for a decision the following year to scrap bursaries for specialist courses in educational psychology that provided skills for dealing with pupils who had special needs ranging from autism to dyslexia. It should have been obvious that difficulties would. Hindsight is a fine thing; short-sightedness is not.
Predictably enough, the cost-saving measure has led to a drastic fall in the number of candidates applying for the course at the two universities providing it. Indeed, they cannot fill the available places with suitable candidates. Furthermore, concerns arise about the calibre of candidate accepted at present. There is less competition for places and also a suspicion that those who can afford the course may not have much experience of the communities in which they might be expected to serve.
Nor will they all necessarily have a background in social work or teaching. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that training salaries of £25,000 are available for alternative courses in clinical psychology. More students are applying for these. The result is a fall in the number of educational psychologists in schools.
If the policy is to have children with special needs taught in mainstream schools, creating a shortage of skilled practitioners to support them surely defeats the policy’s purpose. These bursaries should be reinstated, giving the educational psychology course parity with other training, ultimately ensuring the level of service necessary to make the policy work.
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