Union warns against Bill plans

The Education Secretary, John Swinney, should ditch controversial plans to give headteachers more power, the general secretary of a teaching union will tell its members.

Seamus Searson will outline criticism of the measures contained in the Scottish Government’s new Education Bill on the opening day of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) congress.

He will also use his speech to highlight recurring issues around workload, pay and teacher shortages.

Mr Searson will tell members proposed changes contained in the SNP administration’s latest legislation are not welcomed by the majority of the public.

The Bill would see sweeping reforms to the school system, including the introduction of a new Headteachers’ Charter, giving heads more power over the curriculum, recruitment and budgets.

However the move has been strongly opposed by teaching unions. Mr Searson will say: “The creation of a Headteachers’ Charter is unwanted by many headteachers as they are already struggling to cope with all the demands placed upon them.

“There is no public consensus for this so minister don’t proceed.”

He will also criticise plans to disband the General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) and transfer its functions to a new Education Workforce Council – a move described by the GTCS as having “no evidence-based rationale”.