survey showed that teachers in Scotland already spend more time in the classroom than in any other country, apart from New Zealand, Mexico and the United States. And far from protecting education, as
Matheson argues, Smith says increasing class contact time would amount to a cut to teacher jobs. “What makes the initiative singularly
unwise and misguided is that it’s not just about whether teachers work more hours. Te effect of that would be to reduce the number of teachers you need. It’s about cutting jobs,” Smith argues. Education Secretary Michael Russell appears
to side with the unions on this one. Indeed after assuring teachers that they will be given sufficient time to prepare for Curriculum for Excellence, now being rolled out in schools, it would be hard for him to do otherwise. “With full implementation of Curriculum
for Excellence now upon us, it is essential that we continue to ensure teachers are fully supported and prepared so that pupils reap the benefits. Excellent education needs excellent teaching,” Russell says. “Te current financial challenges should
not mean we lose sight of the longer-term improvements we want to see delivered in education.” But according to the Glasgow leader, by
rejecting his proposal, Russell is shirking his responsibility. “What Mike Russell did was to go on the
party political offensive. Tat’s simply not good enough. We’re in a battle here to try to protect frontline services. We cannot have the Scottish Government deserting the field,” says Matheson.
“Te point I would make to Mr Russell is, if
he does not join local government in this call to revise the McCrone Agreement then the responsibility for the additional cuts elsewhere within education that will be required will rest with him.” Extrapolating from the £15m that he has
calculated Glasgow would save, Matheson estimates a saving of £120m across school budgets in Scotland if his proposal were to be implemented. He says discussions about reopening McCrone are ongoing within COSLA and across a number of authorities. “What I’m hearing is that there is widespread support across local government from different political parties for my call to change class contact time in the agreement. I think that local government and COSLA will pursue this matter in a united and vigorous way. Te question is, ‘Is the Scottish Government prepared to join that battle to protect frontline services?’” John Stodter, General Secretary of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) also reports that such conversations are going on within local government. “I think there are aspects of the agreement
that you could say are not all that efficient,” he says. “Te main one, and this has been raised in a number of authorities, is where you’re using relief or supply teachers. For example, in a secondary school, where those supply teachers are teaching out with their own subject and therefore are not actually doing any teaching and so wouldn’t require preparation and marking time and yet they’re still being paid for that.” Another condition under scrutiny is teachers’ entitlement to take their full holidays
after returning from maternity leave if it falls over the summer break. “So there are issues like that that don’t seem
fair and they certainly will seem unfair in the context of all the other potential budget cuts that people are talking about.” A national debate on these issues must begin, Stodter argues. But with no forum in Scotland for such a conversation, he fears the big decisions could be ducked. “My fear is in Scotland that, especially
coming up to an election, there might not be enough courage or leadership to take big decisions and therefore, it’s left to 32 councils to take their own localised decisions, which could mean they take a bit off everything which I think will have an effect on quality, rather than taking big national decisions. Because the problem is there’s no forum where you can get together locally and nationally and say, ‘Let’s agree what the priorities are’ because some of the big decisions would have national implications, like for the teachers’ agreement. “You’ve got politics and tactics whereas
some of the big solutions are going to take a two or three year lead-in to introduce so we should really be starting the discussion and the consensus gathering now.” A national education forum with all the key players must be created to hold a public debate on where cuts can be made, Stodter argues. Tere are risks in altering an agreement that
has overseen a period of stability in Scottish education and modernised the teaching profession. Nevertheless, uncomfortable choices must be made in Scottish education so the options must be considered alongside others. And that is not a debate that can be delayed beyond the election.
UCU Scotland, the representative union for university staff:
• Invites all MSPs to our Presidential Reception on Wednesday 6 October 2010 at 6pm in the Scottish Parliament.
• University staff provide the skills and knowledge to drive the new economy out of recession and calls for support for this vital sector in the spending review to ensure Scotland’s growth.
Contact Dr Tony Axon, Political officer: UCU Scotland, 6 Castle Street, Edinburgh EH2 3AT | Telephone 0131 226 6694 | email
taxon@ucu.org.uk www.ucu.org.uk/Scotland
20 September 2010 Holyrood 39
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