In a letter sent to councils in June, first minister John Swinney challenged local authorities to come up with a “credible proposal” by Wednesday 20 August for reducing the time that Scottish teachers spend in front of classes by 90 minutes a week.
Mr Swinney said he was “concerned about the lack of progress on delivery” of the flagship Scottish government promise, and wanted “urgent progress”.
He said councils should look at “options for phased implementation, flexible approaches to delivery which accommodate local circumstances, and the potential for local pilots”.
He warned that “we simply cannot afford to stall on this any longer”, before threatening councils with financial penalties if they failed to come up with “a credible proposal to unions ready for August”.
‘Easing teacher workload’
Today the government issued an update to the media on “easing teacher workload”.
It says that “work is underway with councils and teaching unions to create a plan to reduce class-contact time for teachers”.
However, there is little detail on how the 90-minute-a-week cut to contact time - which was promised in 2021 - might be delivered.
Vlog Scotland put it to the Scottish government that Mr Swinney’s deadline had been ignored and that local authorities’ body Cosla had failed to come up with the “coherent and clear plan” the first minister had demanded.
Responding to the release - which also talks about the inspectorate providing guidelines to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, and greater use of digital technology to help free up teachers’ time - Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, welcomed “the new urgency” with which the government now seemed to be approaching the “longstanding issue of teacher workload”.
However, she said it was “last-chance saloon for a negotiated outcome”.
The EIS is currently running a consultative ballot on industrial action over teacher workload and the contact time promise, with the ballot set to close at noon on Friday 29 August.
Ms Bradley said: “We welcome the commitment from the government to working at pace but, from our point of view, the pace really will have to be super-quick, given the time teachers have had to wait for any sign that the 2021 manifesto commitment is going to be delivered.
‘Convincing’ ballot result likely
She added: “We enter into this next round of negotiations in good faith but most likely with the strength of a convincing ballot result in our back pockets and also the intention that, if there is more heel dragging or more delaying, we will progress the dispute further and move to a statutory ballot.”
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth said the proposals to alleviate workload pressure on teachers would “provide teachers with additional time to prepare lessons and reduce the number of hours worked outside of the school day, enhancing their wellbeing and benefitting children and young people by providing an improved learning experience”.
She said she wanted these proposals to be “delivered at pace”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “This announcement ensures that we are able to undertake further work on solutions to ease the increased workload teachers are currently facing.
“This sits alongside the Scottish government’s commitment to reduce class contact time, and we have been clear that councils must deliver progress on this, which has been supported by significant Scottish government investment.”
The spokesperson added: “It is encouraging that the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers has agreed to intensify its focus on this work.”
A Cosla spokesperson said: “Cosla worked with partners to scope and set out the actions required in order to deliver on the Scottish government’s commitment to reduce teachers’ class contact time by 90 minutes a week. This was discussed by unions, employers and Scottish government at a special meeting of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers on Wednesday 20 August.
“Collaborative work will be taken forward to develop a workplan of the necessary steps required to advance this. Discussions regarding the provision of funding to deliver this will also be required.”
The Cosla spokesperson added: “Scottish government are undertaking consultation with children and families, and carrying out impact assessments. The analysis of these will be crucial in making progress.
“Local government has been clear that we must ensure no negative impact on learning experiences and educational outcomes through the reduction of class-contact time.”
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