Dundee Labour’s education spokesman says his final weeks in office will be spent trying to ease a staffing crisis in city schools.
Local councillor Laurie Bidwell plans to stand down from his role as a Broughty Ferry representative in May.
Mr Bidwell, who has served since 2007, has helped play a role in the redevelopment of schools throughout Dundee during his time in office.
While he is proud of what he has achieved working on behalf of the Ferry Ward, Mr Bidwell is determined to strive toward improving a city-wide lack of teachers in so called Stem subjects.
The Scottish Government has announced a £1 million plan to recruit 200 more teachers at a national level.
At local level, Dundee City Council has previously admitted that it had managed to fill just 50% of its desired quota of high school teachers for 2016. 34 newly-qualified teachers were sought, but only 17 were recruited.
Mr Bidwell believes a Labour plan to set aside £200,000 to recruit teachers for subjects including science, engineering, technical, and maths is the way ahead.
He said: “I think it would be very helpful to the city.
“We’re trying to make sure that as an employer Dundee City Council is an attractive place to come and teach.
“One of the ways to recruit teachers for subjects there is a real shortage of teachers in is to set up a fund which would provide additional incentives.
“We’re not just going to sit back and say this is tough.
“We need to look at innovative ways which can help bring more applicants.”
Dundee City Council children and families services convener Stewart Hunter said: “This is something we have looked at previously.
“The experience (of the scheme being deployed) in Aberdeen shows that it hasn’t really worked.
“It’s helping teachers to come, but they are not staying for very long.
“After that you can’t claw money back.
“Investing £200,000 in this isn’t a sensible approach to take.
“I can understand what they (Labour) are trying to do, but it would be a waste of £200,000 which could be spent elsewhere.”
