They fear schools may be left with fewer staff to carry out essential guidance duties next August if the ranks of assistant principal teachers desert traditional support roles in favour of class teaching.

Glasgow is already facing a revolt over what one union leader described as a “shambles” of a plan to restructure posts ahead of the national job sizing exercise.

Guidance APTs have been threatened that they may be liable to transfer if they reject plans to move them on to point 3 of the chartered teacher scale while retaining their existing remits and duties.

Willie Hart, Educational Institute of Scotland local secretary in Glasgow, described the city’s policy as “cheap labour” and claimed it ignored key elements of the McCrone agreement.

Glasgow is consulting on the future of guidance but admits it has no funds to upgrade its 118 APTs, even if some opt to go for principal teacher posts under job sizing. Officials point out that the Scottish Executive has washed its hands of the issue and left it to authorities to sort out.

Ken Cunningham, president of the Headteachers’ Association of Scotland and a Glasgow head, said there were fears for the delivery of the curriculum and the wider aspects of schools because of the uncertainties. “There are significant difficulties because of the job sizing exercise and the time-scale is now so tight. Timetables and staffing requirements are put together from January onwards,” Mr Cunningham said.

He added: “There is a genuine concern that, come August, we will be unable to continue the provision we currently have. We have some very good teachers who do not know what is going to happen to them while councils are struggling to balance the books.”

Mr Hart said the national agreement was clear that APTs and senior teachers must choose to go to point 3 of the chartered teacher scale and lose their additional duties or apply to be principal teachers and be job sized in due course, if there was a post available.

“There is no Glasgow ‘third way’,” he said. “The idea that guidance APTs should become chartered teachers and keep their guidance duties is a proposal for cheap labour and must be rejected.”

Barbara Clark, assistant secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’

Association, warned: “We did not sign up to something that would result in a worse level of service.”

Plans by several authorities to create specialist, full-time guidance staff and place more responsibility on register teachers would be unsuccessful. “If they think they can lay off all guidance work on to first-line guidance (the class teachers), the service will not be delivered properly,” Mrs Clark said.

A Glasgow spokesman said: “The council is seeking ways of using the skills, expertise and commitment of our staff within the conditions of the new set-up.”

Leader, page 20