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members of unlucky The union is set to vote on industrial action at class contact time.
The union alleged scottish government of not being able to complete SNP The manifesto ahead of the 2021 elections has committed to reducing contact time by one and a half hours per week.
Announcing the move, NASUWT national officers scotland Mike Corbett said teachers are “certainly in a worse position in terms of workload” than before the last election.
“The commitment on classroom contact time was a recognition by the Scottish Government that taking extra time out of the classroom was essential to give teachers adequate time and space to plan, prepare and assess pupils’ work to help pupils achieve their best and raise achievement.
“We have agreements in place with the Scottish Government and Cosla setting up working groups to work ‘at pace’ and make meaningful progress on reducing classroom contact time from 2024 onwards.
“But the reality is that teachers today are in a worse position in terms of their workload and working hours than they were in 2021 when this commitment was first made.
“Reductions in classroom contact time are necessary now, if not more so than in 2021.
“It is a pity that we have been forced to declare a trade dispute and go to the polls in order to force the Government to give teachers the working conditions that it itself admits they need to do the job effectively.”
general secretary of the union matt wrack He said it had “exhausted all avenues” to reduce contact time and added: “While ministers and employers continue to fail our teachers, we will stand up for their right to working conditions that will enable them to provide the highest quality education for our children and young people.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers have been clear that reducing classroom contact will help to support the time and space that teachers need, allowing them to drive improvement and improvement in our schools and improve outcomes for their pupils.
“We are committed to working with teaching unions and Cosla to agree our approach to rapidly reducing classroom contact time.
“That’s why we are providing local authorities with £186.5 million of increased funding to restore teacher numbers – this additional funding was agreed by local government on the understanding that they are making ‘meaningful progress’ with reducing classroom contact.
“The Minister respects the right of union members to withdraw their labour, but is disappointed that NASUWT has taken this action while these constructive discussions are ongoing.”