As staff and pupils return for the start of the new academic year, the NASUWT, the fastest growing teachers’ union in Scotland, warns that if the Scottish Government’s ambitious agenda for education is to be met, then it is time for ministers to meet the challenge of change.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:
“At the end of the last academic year the Cabinet Secretary set out a series of plans aimed at closing the attainment gap and raising pupil attainment, building on proposals previously announced to introduce standardised testing and measures around the professional development of teachers and school self-evaluation.
“The NASUWT shares the Scottish Government’s ambition to seek to ensure that all children and young people realise their full educational potential.
“However, in order for this to become a reality it is critical that ministers recognise the challenges facing the school workforce.
“Critical to attainment is the role of teachers. A key priority must therefore be to tackle the issues facing the profession in terms of ending the year-on-year cuts to pay and tackling the excessive workload which is blighting the profession, diverting teachers from focusing on teaching and learning and fuelling a potential crisis in teacher supply.
“Teachers have already been through intensive reform and change in recent years. They have always risen to the challenge. That this will continue cannot, however, be taken for granted. It is time for ministers also to rise to the challenge.
“The ambitious timescales for change set by the Scottish Government will only be realised if schools, teachers and school leaders are given the support, time and resources to meet this challenging agenda and if the Scottish Government recognises the centrality of the workforce to a successful outcome and provides the necessary support.”
Jane Peckham, NASUWT National Official Scotland, said:
“The Minister does not need to spend any more time planning what to do to support teachers and to deliver his agenda. The strategy is already there.
“Tackle excessive workload. The NASUWT has provided a comprehensive list of measures which will alleviate the burdens on teachers.
“Make teachers’ pay and conditions of service statutory so that they have clear rights and entitlements not subject to the vagaries of individual schools and employers. The NASUWT has already presented a case for this to ministers
“Set up an independent review body to examine teachers’ pay and conditions of service and replace the current machinery which has presided over year-on-year cuts and deterioration to teachers’ pay and conditions.
“If ministers truly want to maintain world class schools they should delay no longer on taking forward these crucial changes.”
