The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Covid sees big fall in supply teacher hours
Scotland’s largest teaching union has called for an end to zero-hours contracts for supply teachers after its survey showed nearly half were offered no work in January.
An end to zero-hours supply lists is one of three key demands by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) in its manifesto for an educationled recovery.
It follows a survey conducted by the union earlier this year which found that 40% of its members had no contracted hours in the first month of the new term.
Over half of respondents (50.6%) also said they worked “slightly or significantly fewer hours” in January 2021.
Only 6% of members said that they had been contracted to work more hours in January 2021 compared to the same month in 2020.
Of the more than 1,600 EIS members who responded to the survey, 5.1% were registered with Fife Council – the sixth highest out of the 32 council areas in Scotland.
A further 3.5% were registered in Perth and Kinross, and 2.1% and 1.5% were registered in Dundee and Angus respectively.
Respondents who indicated that they had worked fewer hours in January 2021 than in January 2020 were also asked to highlight what the difference was in these working days.
Around 15% of members said they had their work reduced by more than 25 days, with just over 40% saying they had lost one to 10 days work in comparison to the same timeframe in 2020. It should be noted that the vast majority (85%) of members confirmed that they have had their current arrangements honoured.
However, 15% of respondents indicated that
they had seen a reduction in hours or an early termination to their contract.
When asked about their current employment status, just over a third of respondents (35.8%) said they were currently seeking supply work. Of these, nearly half (43.8%) indicated they had been advised “there is limited work as a result of current lockdown restrictions.”
Pupils in P1 to P3 returned to classrooms fulltime on February 22, with pupils in P4 to P7 – as well as some secondary pupils – returning on March 15.
All secondary school pupils will return full-time after their Easter break.
The survey also offered members the opportunity to share any further concerns or issues. Over 600 comments were recorded, with members highlighting their frustrations around securing work, as well as their anxieties around school safety in light of the current pandemic.
One respondent claimed they had “no communication” from Fife
Council regarding a renewal of their contract which was due to finish at the end of January.
They said: “I am on a three-day short-term contract until January 29. I have had no other offers of employment from Fife since the start of term and expect that there won’t be. I covered classes almost every day from October to December 2020 but now supply teachers have been forgotten about.”
Shelagh McLean, head of education & children’s services at Fife Council, said: “This survey appears to have taken place at the very start of the calendar year when circumstances nationally were changing rapidly. We’re disappointed to hear that a supply teacher was concerned about the likely availability of work at that time, as they are a very valuable resource.”
Writing in the manifesto, Larry Flanagan, EIS general secretary, said that Scotland’s education has become a “political football” and called for more to be done reduce inequality.