Latest news with #AndreaBradley
Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Scotsman
Teachers balloted for strike action over ‘excessive' workloads
Move follows survey that found two fifths of teachers work seven hours extra unpaid each week Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Teachers are being urged to vote for strike action in a bid to send a message to ministers on 'excessive' workloads. Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, is launching a consultative ballot for industrial action during its annual general meeting on Friday. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The ballot comes in the wake of a survey by the union which revealed more than two-fifths of teachers (44 per cent) work an additional seven unpaid hours in a typical week. The research also found 11.5 per cent of teachers work an extra 15 hours or more per week – the equivalent of two days. Scottish teachers are being balloted for strike action | PA EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said the ballot will highlight the 'pressing need' to deliver on a commitment to cut the time teachers spend in the classroom. The SNP 2021 manifesto pledged to reduce this by 1.5 hours a week – with Ms Bradley insisting action is needed to 'reduce excessive teacher workload'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Speaking ahead of the AGM, which is taking place in Aviemore, the she said: 'This ballot is an opportunity for our members to send a clear message to their employers and the Scottish Government of the need to honour the commitments to tackle excessive teacher workload by reducing weekly class contact time.' Accusing the Scottish Government and local authority leaders in Cosla of failing to deliver the promised reduction in classroom time, she called on union members to vote in favour of industrial action – including strikes. Ms Bradley said: 'Only sending a strong and clear message will compel the Scottish Government and Cosla to finally take action to tackle teacher workload.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad She told how 'teachers have waited more than four years' for the time they spend in classes to be reduced, saying in the meantime workload pressures 'continue to soar'. Workload impact on health Ms Bradley added: 'This is having a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of teachers, with significant consequences for the learning experience of pupils in our schools.' The recent EIS survey revealed the 'scale of the workload demands that are being placed on teachers', she said, adding this showed 'almost half' of those in the profession are working the equivalent of an extra day per week to keep on top of their workload. On the commitment to reduce class contact time by 1.5 hours per week, she said the Scottish Government and Cosla have 'failed even to produce any firm proposals on how to take this forward'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley | Contributed The EIS ballot comes as a second union, the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA), is also preparing to hold a consultative survey on strike action on the issue. SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: 'The reduction of 90 minutes class contact time was promised by the Scottish Government four years ago and Cosla has baulked at every turn to progress the promise. 'The reduction of class contact time is a small step in addressing teacher workload and the employers have failed to acknowledge the importance of the 90 minutes to teachers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'SSTA members have reached the end of their patience and now have no option but to resort to taking strike action to force the employers to implement a real benefit for hard pressed secondary school teachers. 'To get to this point shows a lack of respect and understanding by the employers of the challenges teachers are facing to deliver education.' The SSTA said its survey will start in the week of June 16 and run until the end of August. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government will continue to work with unions and Cosla to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time, which ultimately requires agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. 'This is also why we are providing local authorities with an additional £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers, alongside an additional £29 million to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce. 'This funding has been provided on the clear agreement that meaningful progress is made on reducing teacher class contact time.'
The National
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Teachers balloted for strike action over 'excessive' workloads
Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, is launching a consultative ballot for industrial action during its annual general meeting on Friday. The ballot comes in the wake of a survey by the union which revealed more than two-fifths of teachers (44%) work an additional seven unpaid hours in a typical week. The research also found 11.5% of teachers work an extra 15 hours or more per week – the equivalent of two days. READ MORE: 'Israel herding Palestinians into concentration camps,' says Gaza aid chief EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said the ballot will highlight the 'pressing need' to deliver on a commitment to cut the time teachers spend in the classroom. The SNP 2021 manifesto pledged to reduce this by 1.5 hours a week – with Bradley insisting action is needed to 'reduce excessive teacher workload'. Speaking ahead of the AGM, which is taking place in Aviemore, she said: 'This ballot is an opportunity for our members to send a clear message to their employers and the Scottish Government of the need to honour the commitments to tackle excessive teacher workload by reducing weekly class contact time.' (Image: Alan Richardson) Accusing the Scottish Government and local authority leaders in Cosla of failing to deliver the promised reduction in classroom time, she called on union members to vote in favour of industrial action – including strikes. Bradley said: 'Only sending a strong and clear message will compel the Scottish Government and Cosla to finally take action to tackle teacher workload.' She told how 'teachers have waited more than four years' for the time they spend in classes to be reduced, saying in the meantime workload pressures 'continue to soar'. Bradley added: 'This is having a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of teachers, with significant consequences for the learning experience of pupils in our schools.' The recent EIS survey revealed the 'scale of the workload demands that are being placed on teachers', she said, adding this showed 'almost half' of those in the profession are working the equivalent of an extra day per week to keep on top of their workload. On the commitment to reduce class contact time by 1.5 hours per week, she said the Scottish Government and Cosla have 'failed even to produce any firm proposals on how to take this forward'. The EIS ballot comes as a second union, the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA), is also preparing to hold a consultative survey on strike action on the issue. SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: 'The reduction of 90 minutes class contact time was promised by the Scottish Government four years ago and Cosla has baulked at every turn to progress the promise. 'The reduction of class contact time is a small step in addressing teacher workload and the employers have failed to acknowledge the importance of the 90 minutes to teachers. 'SSTA members have reached the end of their patience and now have no option but to resort to taking strike action to force the employers to implement a real benefit for hard pressed secondary school teachers. 'To get to this point shows a lack of respect and understanding by the employers of the challenges teachers are facing to deliver education.' The SSTA said its survey will start in the week of June 16 and run until the end of August. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government will continue to work with unions and Cosla to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time, which ultimately requires agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. 'This is also why we are providing local authorities with an additional £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers, alongside an additional £29m to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce. 'This funding has been provided on the clear agreement that meaningful progress is made on reducing teacher class contact time.'
Powys County Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Powys County Times
Teachers balloted for strike action over ‘excessive' workloads
Teachers are being urged to vote for strike action in a bid to send a message to ministers on 'excessive' workloads. Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, is launching a consultative ballot for industrial action during its annual general meeting on Friday. The ballot comes in the wake of a survey by the union which revealed more than two-fifths of teachers (44%) work an additional seven unpaid hours in a typical week. The research also found 11.5% of teachers work an extra 15 hours or more per week – the equivalent of two days. EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said the ballot will highlight the 'pressing need' to deliver on a commitment to cut the time teachers spend in the classroom. The SNP 2021 manifesto pledged to reduce this by 1.5 hours a week – with Ms Bradley insisting action is needed to 'reduce excessive teacher workload'. Speaking ahead of the AGM, which is taking place in Aviemore, the she said: 'This ballot is an opportunity for our members to send a clear message to their employers and the Scottish Government of the need to honour the commitments to tackle excessive teacher workload by reducing weekly class contact time.' Accusing the Scottish Government and local authority leaders in Cosla of failing to deliver the promised reduction in classroom time, she called on union members to vote in favour of industrial action – including strikes. Ms Bradley said: 'Only sending a strong and clear message will compel the Scottish Government and Cosla to finally take action to tackle teacher workload.' She told how 'teachers have waited more than four years' for the time they spend in classes to be reduced, saying in the meantime workload pressures 'continue to soar'. Ms Bradley added: 'This is having a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of teachers, with significant consequences for the learning experience of pupils in our schools.' The recent EIS survey revealed the 'scale of the workload demands that are being placed on teachers', she said, adding this showed 'almost half' of those in the profession are working the equivalent of an extra day per week to keep on top of their workload. On the commitment to reduce class contact time by 1.5 hours per week, she said the Scottish Government and Cosla have 'failed even to produce any firm proposals on how to take this forward'. "Having teachers who are overworked and stressed is in no-one's interest, neither teachers themselves or their families, nor the young people learning in our schools." — EIS Fife (@EISFife) June 3, 2025 The EIS ballot comes as a second union, the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA), is also preparing to hold a consultative survey on strike action on the issue. SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: 'The reduction of 90 minutes class contact time was promised by the Scottish Government four years ago and Cosla has baulked at every turn to progress the promise. 'The reduction of class contact time is a small step in addressing teacher workload and the employers have failed to acknowledge the importance of the 90 minutes to teachers. 'SSTA members have reached the end of their patience and now have no option but to resort to taking strike action to force the employers to implement a real benefit for hard pressed secondary school teachers. 'To get to this point shows a lack of respect and understanding by the employers of the challenges teachers are facing to deliver education.' The SSTA said its survey will start in the week of June 16 and run until the end of August. A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'The Scottish Government will continue to work with unions and Cosla to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time, which ultimately requires agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers. 'This is also why we are providing local authorities with an additional £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers, alongside an additional £29 million to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce. 'This funding has been provided on the clear agreement that meaningful progress is made on reducing teacher class contact time.' A Cosla spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the increased pressures across the whole local government workforce and the teaching profession is rightly greatly valued. As we continue to engage with teaching unions on the issue of workload, we have committed, along with Scottish Government, to exploring ways of reducing class contact time. 'The provision of high-quality learning experiences for children and young people depends on the education workforce being adequately supported, resourced, skilled and confident to respond to the learners in front of them. Cosla works closely with trade unions, Scottish Government, and partners, to enable the delivery of this. 'Reducing teachers' class contact time by 1.5 hours a week – equal to almost two weeks per year – will require additional resource, significant advance planning and actions to tackle existing problems such as recruitment and retention in rural areas and shortages of teachers of certain subject areas. There has to be a recognition that achieving the reduction in class contact time by maintaining teacher numbers as pupil numbers gradually decline is a challenge and will take time. 'In addition, councils will have to consider how to maintain other statutory services as the proportion of the salary bill required for teachers increases.'
Scotsman
2 days ago
- General
- Scotsman
Given SNP's broken promises, no wonder teachers are on brink of industrial action
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Many people will remember a particular teacher who made a real difference to their lives. However, if that teacher had been overworked, disillusioned and stressed out, would they have made the same life-changing impact? According to a new survey by the EIS union – of more than 10,700 teachers across Scotland – one in ten teachers work the equivalent of two days a week without pay while more than four in ten work seven hours a week unpaid. Two-thirds said they were either 'dissatisfied' or 'very dissatisfied' with their workload and only 17.5 per cent were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Later this week, the union will open a consultative ballot on industrial action over the Scottish Government's failure to reduce the 'persistent, excessive workload demands being placed on teachers at all grades and at all stages of their careers'. Scotland's future depends to a great extent on having highly motivated teachers, not stressed out, overworked ones (Picture: Matt Cardy) | Getty Images Future depends on well-educated workforce This has been a long time coming. Four years ago, the SNP promised to reduce the time teachers spend in the classroom by 90 minutes a week "to give them the time they need to lift standards". However EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said there had been 'absolutely no tangible progress towards delivering it, and no proposals as to how it will be delivered'. This is a familiar story for SNP watchers – the rhetoric can sound good, but seldom leads to tangible, real-world improvements, whether in education, the NHS, the transport network, climate change and so on. However the failure to address our education system's worrying slide down international league tables is perhaps the most worrying of all the nationalists' failures, given this country's future depends on having a well-educated workforce. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad All across the country, teachers want to do their best for the children in their charge but their spirit is being slowly crushed by overly large classes regularly disrupted by children whose additional needs require more specialist care.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
‘Excessive workload' means 44% of teachers work extra day every week, says union
Workload levels mean more than two-fifths of teachers are working the equivalent of an extra day each week – with more than one in 10 working an additional two days without pay, research has found. A survey by the EIS teaching union found 44.3% of teachers who took part said they work an additional seven unpaid hours in a typical week. Meanwhile 11.5% of teachers said they work an extra 15 hours or more per week – the equivalent of two more days. The results are revealed in a survey the union carries out every two years which looks at workload, health and wellbeing issues. The findings were made public ahead of the union's annual general meeting later this week – where it will open a consultative ballot for industrial action over the Scottish Government's 'failure' to meet a commitment to reduce time spent in classes for teachers. EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: 'The results of the EIS national survey paint a stark picture on the matter of teacher workload. 'It is a story of persistent, excessive workload demands being placed on teachers at all grades and at all stages of their careers. 'This has serious health, safety and wellbeing implications for teachers, and is contributing to a worrying upward trend in stress-related illness throughout the teaching profession.' A total of 10,789 teachers from across Scotland took part in the survey – with only 17.5% saying they are either 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with their workload levels. Two-thirds (66.9%) reported being either 'dissatisfied' or 'very dissatisfied' with workload levels generally. When looking at the preparation and marking teachers have to do for classes, almost three-quarters (73%) said they are rarely or never able to do this within the working week. And 64% said they can never complete all the tasks assigned to them within their working week. Ms Bradley said tackling 'excessive teacher workload' is one of the key aims of the union's Stand Up for Quality Education campaign. She vowed to press both local councils, who employ teachers, and the Scottish Government on the 'vital issue'. It comes after the last SNP Holyrood election manifesto pledged to cut the time teachers spend in the classroom by 1.5 hours a week 'to give them the time they need to lift standards'. But Ms Bradley said: 'Four years on from that pledge being made, there has been absolutely no tangible progress towards delivering it, and no proposals as to how it will be delivered. 'It is the failure to deliver on this vital promise on class contact time that will lead to the EIS opening a consultative industrial action ballot over workload at our annual general meeting later this week.' The Scottish Government said ministers will continue to work with unions and local government body Cosla to 'agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time'. A spokesperson added: 'This is also why we are providing local authorities with an additional £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers, alongside an additional £29 million to support the recruitment and retention of the ASN (additional support needs) workforce. 'This funding has been provided on the clear agreement that meaningful progress is made on reducing teacher class contact time.'
