Significant progress is being made to attract new teachers to Dundee’s schools, according to education convener Councillor Stewart Hunter.
Mr Hunter said there had been success in filling a number of vacant posts, though he accepted that hard work remains to be done.
It is unclear whether all vacant posts at the city’s primary and secondary schools can be filled in time for the start of the new term next month.
The council is, however, confident that the position will be much improved on last year.
The confidence comes despite figures, obtained under Freedom of Information by the Liberal Democrats, revealing there were more than 100 teaching posts vacant within the city as of June.
Mr Hunter said significant headway had since been made to lower that figure, with the number of vacant primary and secondary posts now sitting at 15 and 13 respectively.
“We have made substantial progress and are still working hard to address this issue, but I accept that we had hoped to be in a better position,” he said.
“We had looked to have almost all the vacancies filled by teachers by this point but with other areas experiencing similar problems many teachers have had multiple options.
“We have made a number of offers to teachers only to see them accept posts closer to home.
“Where we have had success is in attracting newly-qualified teachers.
“They will step into posts initially for a year, but many will hopefully become permanent in the future.”
He added: “Ideally we’d like to have all the vacancies filled as quickly as possible so the teachers can get a feel for their new schools ahead of the start of term.
“The situation is as it is, however, and we have to deal with it.
“We will keep working hard to fill the remaining posts. One thing I know is that we will be in a much better position than last year.”