Aberdeenshire staff travel to Ireland and Canada to recruit teachers Teachers from Canada and Ireland could be recruited to work in Scotland in an attempt to tackle a shortage of classroom staff. Education chiefs in Aberdeenshire Council said they are taking "innovative" action to fill teaching vacancies in the area. A team of three interviewers from the local authority has already travelled to Dublin and Toronto where they have spoken to more than 30 newly qualified teachers. The council hopes the move will help them recruit high-quality staff looking for their first teaching job. The local authority's spring teacher recruitment campaign saw 138 vacancies in primary and secondary schools filled. But there are still around 40 positions which are vacant, with Cllr Isobel Davidson, chair of Aberdeenshire Council's education, learning and leisure committee conceding they are "continuing to struggle to fill these posts." Both Ireland and Canada are said to have high levels of newly qualified teachers who have not yet managed to find work in the classroom. Teachers recruited from there to work in Aberdeenshire will be allocated a teaching role in either a primary school or a secondary in the area. They will receive a full induction, covering Scottish education standards, a temporary work visa and will have their accommodation and travel costs paid. At a cost of £4000 to £5000 per teacher, the council hopes this will provide a short-term solution to its recruitment difficulties. Staff taken on from Canada and Ireland would be expected to travel to Scotland in August, ready to start work early in the new school year. After a year they will have the opportunity to seek a full-time teaching job in the area if they wish, subject to visa requirements. Ms Davidson said: "We need to look at innovative ways to fill teaching vacancies in Aberdeenshire. At the moment we have around 40 teaching vacancies and despite our very best efforts, we are continuing to struggle to fill these posts. We are confident that this innovative approach will stimulate significant interest and help relieve the current pressures on our teaching staff. We know we have a lot to offer potential candidates: a teaching job in one of our many primary schools or academies, a first year of teaching experience, an excellent quality of life and a very warm welcome from our communities. Wilfred Weir, the council's head of education, policy and resources, said: "Countries like Canada and Ireland have generated a surplus of teachers. They are well qualified and keen to secure their first job. This presents us with an opportunity to attract quality probationer teachers to a teaching role in one of our schools, helping us to fill much-needed vacancies and ensure that our schools have the appropriate levels of teachers to continue to meet our high standards. We are working with an agency which is supporting us with this campaign, identifying potential candidates, reviewing CVs and selling the benefits of relocating to Aberdeenshire. This overseas campaign will supplement our ongoing and significant efforts to attract candidates to the area using more traditional methods of recruitment.