The Scottish government has until early next month to come forward with “concrete proposals” on delivery of its promise to reduce teachers’ maximum class-contact time or face industrial action.
The teaching unions that sit on the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers - or SNCT, the body determining teachers’ pay and conditions - have set a deadline of Monday 3 February.
They say that, to avoid a dispute, the government “must start acting now to deliver on what they have promised”.
‘Glacial progress’ on contact time
In its 2021 Scottish Parliament election manifesto, the SNP promised to cut the time teachers spend in front of classes by 90 minutes a week.
However, the EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, says progress to date has been “somewhere short of glacial”.
On several occasions, the government has reiterated its commitment to the pledge.
Most recently, in December, education secretary Jenny Gilruth announced that a new deal had been brokered with Scottish councils, which included an additional £41 million to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels.
Teacher numbers in Scotland have fallen for the past three years in a row.
Making the announcement, Ms Gilruth said that, on teachers’ class-contact time, she now wanted “to make progress at pace”.
‘Tangible progress’ demanded on contact time
However, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley has now said that, while this was “a welcome reaffirmation of the commitment, it did not in itself represent any real progress towards delivery”.
She added: “Teachers are on their knees as the result of crippling workload pressures that see them work on average 11 hours a week extra, unpaid.
“They need tangible progress now on tackling what are unfair, unhealthy and unsustainable levels of workload, not the repeated promise of possible progress at some unspecified point in the future.”
Ms Bradley stressed there was little time left before the 3 February deadline, and that a statement from the SNCT teachers’ panel in December made clear that patience had “run out”.
She added: “If they really want to avoid a dispute with Scotland’s teachers on the issue of class-contact time, they must start acting now to deliver on what they have promised.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The cabinet secretary [Jenny Gilruth] recognises the pressures facing teachers and wholeheartedly agrees with the views of the teaching panel on the urgent need for the rollout of reduced class contact.
“The Scottish government has agreed with [local authorities body] Cosla that it will provide £186.5 million to local government to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels and make meaningful progress on reducing class contact time. Firm proposals will be brought forward to the SNCT teacher panel by its 3 February deadline.”
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