The outgoing president of the EIS teaching union has hit out at the Scottish government for undertaking “consultation upon consultation on reform” and producing “words on hundreds of pages” but failing to act.
Addressing delegates in Dundee’s Caird Hall this afternoon on the first day of the EIS’ annual general meeting, Paula McEwan, a primary teacher from Inverclyde, listed the myriad reviews and consultations that the Scottish government had undertaken, from Professor Louise Hayward’s review of qualifications and assessment to the “national discussion” on education.
“Consultation upon consultation” had produced “recommendation upon recommendation” and “words on hundreds of pages”, she said, yet the only action from government had been “to tell us there won’t be action and no timeline for when action might happen”.
Frustration over Scottish education reform
Ms McEwan went on to predict that the much-anticipated National Behaviour Action Plan - which is a key part of the government’s response to deteriorating behaviour in schools - would be “words on a page with nothing to back them up”.
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth has promised to publish the plan this month, but Ms McEwan warned that there were no additional resources to allow teachers to act on it and there was no funding “to build space in the system for meaningful engagement with the plan, with local processes or with reporting”.
Ms Gilruth had been due to address the EIS AGM this week but pulled out, citing the upcoming Westminster general election.
Ms McEwan said: “In 2021 we were told to judge the government on education, and we really would, if only they would give us something to judge.
“It’s not good enough. Our children and young people deserve better, our schools deserve better and our members deserve better - we need action and we need it now.”
Teachers calling for more resources
Ms McEwan said that over her year as president “the ask” from teachers had been “a consistent one” - for “resource, resource, resource”.
“Education is key to so many things but without appropriate levels of targeted, ring-fenced, transparently allocated and spent funding, how can we possibly ‘get it right for every child’?” she asked.
She called on first minister John Swinney to “recognise that investment in education across all its spheres will bring a saving in the longer term”.
Ms McEwan added: “Investment in education now, and that includes in further education, eases pressure on the health service, on the justice service, on adult social care and on so much more in the longer term.
“Education will lift adults and their children out of poverty, will boost the economy and will allow our population to thrive.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said it had “a proud record of investing in Scottish education - that investment means we spend more per pupil than any other part of the UK and our teachers are the best paid”.
The spokesperson added: “We are also offering £145.5 million to local councils this year to protect teacher numbers - all of this investment is because we value Scotland’s teachers.”
For the latest Scottish education news, analysis and features delivered directly to your inbox, sign up to Tes magazine’s The Week in Scotland newsletter
