Now teachers brand State snooper plan a ‘black hole’
They warn it’s riddled with doubts
TEACHERS are demanding an investigation into a ‘big black hole’ in plans to implement the SNP’s state guardian scheme.
The Mail reported yesterday that in Moray, where the scheme is already operating, as few as eight council workers had to cover for 80 Named Persons during school holidays – and faced up to 25 referrals a day from police over problem children.
Now delegates at the EIS annual general meeting in Dundee have backed a motion calling on the union’s council to investigate and report on the ‘workload, contractual and legal implications arising from the role of the Named Person’.
The controversial policy, due to be rolled out across Scotland in August, will assign a single point of contact such as a teacher or health visitor to look out for the welfare of children under 18.
Speaking in favour of the motion yesterday, EIS council member David Baxter said that while there was support for the provisions under the Children and Young People (Scotland) 2014 Act, which set up the Named Person scheme, he believed extra resources were needed.
He said: ‘There appears to be a big black hole surrounding the provision of the service that needs to be questioned, namely teachers’ contractual rights.
‘The Named Person role as a statutory responsibility cannot be ignored. The undertaking of this role will require time and it will require resources, and all of this has to fit into our terms and conditions.’
He added: ‘There are questions to be answered. What happens during holidays? What happens out of hours? What happens if the post is shared? Who then is designated as the named per- son? The reality is that young people will end up with several named people in term times and holidays.
‘Any local authority that claims this is merely a continuation of good practice is at risk of burying their head in the sand and ignoring the potential risk. Make no mistake, there is a huge potential for this to become yet another driver of excessive workload for promoted and non-promoted teachers.
‘The last thing our profession needs is another great idea brought in on the cheap.’
In a scathing attack on the policy, fellow EIS council member John Swinburne said that the policy would create a ‘vast, expensive bureaucracy to no effect’.
He added: ‘It will divert resources from vulnerable children who really need them and it has been got through because people don’t understand the implications of this.
‘It is a misguided, stupid, nonsensical piece of legislation, and who will pick up the tab for it? It’s high time that we’re really, really clear about that.’
With teachers taking 13 weeks holiday a year – and the EIS already warning they will not be responsible for children during these breaks – the idea of each child having single, identifiable named person collapses every time schools close.
Education Secretary John Swinney is set to address EIS delegates today – as members vote on whether to boycott Nicola Sturgeon’s flagship plans for standardised national tests.
The union this week threatened to ‘withdraw cooperation’ with the Scottish Qualifications Authority in a bitter row over soaring assessment-related workloads, pending the results of a ‘work-to-contract’ ballot.