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The Independent
5 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.'
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Criminals could fill potholes and clean bins under government plans
The government is understood to be developing plans that could see convicted criminals filling potholes and cleaning bins. As first reported by the Sun on Sunday, the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is said to want to expand unpaid work, which she believes to be too lenient. She is understood to want probation teams to work with councils, so that local authorities are able to assign jobs to offenders. Private companies would also be able to employ those who are on community sentences. Offenders would not be paid wages, but the money earned would be paid into a fund for victim's groups. A government source said: "With prisons so close to collapse, we are going to have to punish more offenders outside of prison. "We need punishment to be more than just a soft option or a slap on the wrist. If we want to prove that crime doesn't pay, we need to get offenders working for free - with the salary they would have been paid going back to their victims." They added this meant doing the jobs the public "really want them to do - not just scrubbing graffiti, but filling up potholes and cleaning the bins". Writing for the Telegraph, Ms Mahmood, who describes herself as a "card-carrying member" of her party's "law and order wing", said that "tough community orders work." More inmates released early to stop prisons running out of space An independent review of sentencing carried out by the former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke is expected to be published this week. It was commissioned last year after overcrowding led to the early release of thousands of prisoners. Gauke is understood to be considering recommending the idea of scrapping short prison terms as part of the sentencing review, and is likely to recommend more community-based sentencing to reduce the reliance on imprisonment. The review comes as prisons across the country are struggling to deal with overcrowding after the number of offenders behind bars hit a new high. In an interim report, Gauke warned that unless radical changes were made, prisons in England and Wales could run out of cells by early next year. Ms Mahmood warned that he would "have to recommend bold, and sometimes difficult, measures". In her article, she pointed to examples such as the system in Texas, where she said "offenders who comply with prison rules earn an earlier release, while those who don't are locked up for longer". On Wednesday, she announced more than a thousand inmates will be released early to free up spaces in prisons in England and Wales, and that a £4.7bn investment will be used to fund more prisons. Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the announcement was "failing to protect the public" - adding "to govern is to choose, and today she's chosen to release early criminals who've reoffended or breached their licences". Bold spending needed to halt prison crisis - union Prison release plans endanger public, say Tories Ex-Tory Gauke to lead review of prison sentences
