Education secretary quizzed by teachers

TEACHERS put questions to Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville as she addressed their union in Dundee.

Four questions were selected from a list posed by members of the Educational Institute of Scotland at its AGM.

Topics she was quizzed on were the campaign for a 10% pay rise, funding to support those with additional needs and mental health issues, class contact time, and universal free school meals.

Ms Somerville’s answer on whether the promised reduction in the hours teachers spend in class would be preserved for their planning and preparation appeared to provoke the greatest dissent from the audience in Dundee’s Caird Hall yesterday.

She said: “I am absolutely committed to working with unions and with Cosla to see what can be done... so that we can have a fair pay rise but recognising that we do have financial constraints both within the Scottish Government and local government.”

The impact of the pandemic on children and young people in a number of ways is recognised, Ms Somerville said.

She said: “We need to look at mental health and wellbeing and learning, and a holistic approach to children and young people.

“We also, of course, need to look at the requirements of those with additional support needs that may have been there before the pandemic, may have been exacerbated by the pandemic or those that may have particular challenges as they have returned to school following lockdown.”

There were a number of ways to approach that, she said, and highlighted an additional 2,000 teachers compared to pre-pandemic levels, 1,000 extra pupil support assistants recruited in 2021 and school counsellors now in secondary schools.

She said the issue of class contact time is being considered currently and she hopes to see an implementation date “very soon”.

She said: “The EIS and other unions would like to also ensure we have within that discussion some deliberations about what that class contact time would be used for and I can simply say if we are going to have such a large change to class contact time, I think it’s right that the employers and the Scottish Government have a discussion with teachers about that class contact time before a final decision is made.

“I think it is fair to have a discussion about that class contact time and how that can best be used to support our children and young people.”

Free school meals are already offered to all P1 to P5 pupils but their extension to P6 and P7 children in August has been postponed.

Piloting of free school meals in secondary schools will also be looked at, she said.

Some of the delegates at the EIS conference in Dundee’s Caird Hall yesterday which was addressed by the education secretary.