Commenting on the publication of the Education Delivery Plan by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the fastest growing teachers’ union in Scotland, said:

“The NASUWT shares the Deputy First Minister’s ambition to close the attainment gap and to seek to ensure that all children and young people reach their full potential.

“It is undoubtedly helpful to have set out clearly the issues to be addressed and the mechanisms by which it is planned to do this. The NASUWT will be studying the proposals carefully.

“The timescales in the Plan appear to be ambitious and if they are to be met it will be essential to ensure that schools are given the support, time and resources to meet this challenging agenda. Too often good ideas which could make a real difference fail to have a positive effect because implementation is rushed and unsupported and schools are not fully consulted or involved.

“The NASUWT welcomes the recognition from the Cabinet Secretary that bringing downward pressure on workload and tackling excessive bureaucracy, freeing up teachers to focus on teaching and learning, is central to raising standards and closing the attainment gap.

“The NASUWT met the Deputy First Minister’s extremely short timescale in which to submit practical solutions to addressing workload, a timescale presumably set to inform this announcement. It is therefore disappointing to note that no specific proposals based on that submission are evident in the Plan and that tackling teachers’ and school leaders’ workload is one of the few areas for which no specific timescale appears to have been set.

“It is clear that the Minister has recognised that excessive burdens are placed on schools by the bureaucracy surrounding assessment and the curriculum and qualifications changes and plans to address this. However, the Minister should recognise that these issues have already been examined in detail by a national working party and recommendations have been made which have been largely ignored by schools and local authorities.

“As the Delivery Plan is taken forward, the NASUWT will be pressing for the Minister to be clear on  the levers which will be used by the Government to make change happen and for the elements of the Plan directly affecting schools and teachers to be workload impact assessed as they are rolled out.

“The NASUWT welcomes the clear statement and commitment in the Plan to a publicly owned and run comprehensive education system which is a mutual, not a market, system. All aspects of the Plan will therefore need to be tested against that principle, particularly the plans regarding the devolution of more funding and flexibility to schools."

Jane Peckham, NASUWT National Official Scotland, said:

“Whist the NASUWT welcomes the Plan in principle, there will be detailed discussion needed on its provisions and much greater clarity about funding, resources, governance and school accountability.

“Workload is a key issue for teachers. If teachers are to have confidence that the Minister is genuinely committed to addressing their concerns they will want to see early, tangible progress on this critical issue. The NASUWT has made a proposal to the Minister for a number of ‘quick wins’, measures he could take immediately to alleviate workload burdens.

“The NASUWT will be pressing for a clear timetable to be issued by the Minister setting out when the engagement on the Plan will be taking place with the NASUWT and other teacher unions.”