As Glasgow teachers jet off on holiday, they can rejoice in the fact that the city’s experiment with a four-term year, reported in The TES Scotland of August 2, 1974, was short-lived: Glasgow schools face the beginning of the new session next week with a shortage of staff even more severe than last year’s. Only in the Roman Catholic primary schools is the situation expected to be reasonably satisfactory: many non-denominational primaries and almost all secondaries still have vacancies which there is little hope of filling before the pupils arrive back on Thursday . . .

This summer Glasgow has lost more primary teachers than it has been able to gain from the colleges or elsewhere - and there has been little evidence of the promised voluntary restraint in recruitment by the well-staffed authorities.

Young teachers leave the city in search of housing or promotion, and this year there is the added complication of the changeover to the four-term year, which is bringing Glasgow teachers back to school a good fortnight before their colleagues in the surrounding counties . . .

Glasgow still has vacancies for at least 80 primary teachers in non-denominational schools, and there is a distinct possibility that some of them may have to start the session with some children coming part-time . . .

In the secondaries, it is much more serious, with something like 600 vacancies to be filled throughout the city . . . shortages are very widespread . . . mathematics, English, modern languages, technical and physics specialists are badly needed throughout the city.