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‘No more dither, no more delay’ - Scottish teaching union demands government action on pledges

THE Educational institute of Scotand’s (EIS) Andrea Bradley warned the Scottish government to meet its education pledges today, declaring: “No more dither, no more delay. We need solid action.”

The EIS general secretary used her address to the union’s AGM at Aviemore not only to reflect on a difficult year for Scottish teachers, but to set out the challenges ahead.

The last 12 months have seen workers in colleges come under renewed attack amid real-terms funding cuts – and a national strike in Scotland’s schools, on a scale not seen in a generation.

While a settlement was reached with the Scottish government over schoolteachers’ pay, Ms Bradley said she believed there was much still to fight for.

“We know the value of education as a social good ... that strives for the social justice that would make Scotland a fairer, more equal place to live and work and learn.

“We’ll be using every ounce of our very well-toned campaigning muscle as we tackle the scandalous underfunding of ASN [additional support needs], your crippling workload, boundless bureaucracy – and the health and safety risks that are intensifying daily. The predictions we made about the negative impact of large class sizes and lack of additional support, including for mental health, in the aftermath of the pandemic and a decade of austerity before it, are sadly coming to fruition.

“Violent incidents and distressed behaviour are the consequence of not listening to the voices of teachers calling for more support for children and young people whose mental health is fragile … as schools struggle with Covid recovery.”

“We need to see the Scottish government’s manifesto commitments to reduce teachers’ class contact time delivered.

“No more dither, no more delay.

“We need solid action to reduce workload as promised, and we need it now.”

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