Education Secretary Mike Russell has moved to “call in” the proposed closure of two special schools and a primary school in the city after Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) voiced concerns about the planned closure of Stonedyke Primary, St Joan of Arc School and St Aidan’s School.

The plans have now been put on hold and the council has been asked to provide more information to justify their decision.

Mr Russell said: “I do not believe the educational benefits of the closures are set out in sufficient detail ... and I have therefore decided this requires further scrutiny.”

He added: “In each of these schools, education inspectors have raised concerns on how the education of the pupils will be improved in their new schools.”

Stonedyke Primary teaches youngsters from the Drumchapel and Summerhill areas of the city. Under the council’s plans, youngsters would transfer to two other primary schools.

St Joan of Arc and St Aidan’s schools cater for youngsters aged 11 to 18 with additional support needs, with both schools having a number of pupils with autism.

Under the plans most of these students would go to a new school, with a few transferring to a small specialist unit in John Paul Academy in Glasgow.

But today the council hit back, accusing Mr Russell of acting to offset a hostile public reaction to the recent closure of Crossroads, a small rural primary school in East Ayrshire, which he decided not to call in.

Jean McFadden, Glasgow’s executive member for education, said: “This is an entirely political decision which has been taken for bogus reasons.

“The minister is thrashing around looking for something to cover his understandable embarrassment about Crossroads Primary in Ayrshire.”

  158 supply staff told not to turn up for work

Teachers have warned that secondary and primary schools across Glasgow face a difficult start to the new school year after 158 supply staff were told not to turn up.

Glasgow City Council instructed the supply teachers not to go to school on Thursday and Friday last week, when the rest of school staff returned to prepare for the new term.

The decision will save the council £50,000 in wages, but it meant supply staff -- who may be covering for as much as a year -- arrived yesterday on the same day as pupils.

Hugh Donnelly, secretary of the Glasgow branch of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said teachers in this position would be “playing catch-up”.

“There is clearly a drive to save money in the current context of budget cuts, but it is unfortunate that long-term supply teachers have been denied the necessary preparation time,” he said.

“This means time available for contact and familiarisation with schools, course materials and needs is being denied to teachers.”

However, a spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council defended the move.

Jean McFadden, the council’s executive member for education, said: “Glasgow has had lengthy discussions and agreement with the EIS over the introduction of fixed-term supply contracts, so we are surprised at this statement.”