Teachers’ warning on SNP’s state snooper bid
SCHOOLS will need more teachers and backroom staff if ministers press ahead with their ‘state snoopers’ plan, Scotland’s biggest teaching union has warned.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said teachers have ‘growing concerns’ about the ‘viability’ of the Scottish Government’s bid to appoint a Named Person for every child.
It warns that the scheme would pile more work on already stretched staff and affect the time they spend in class.
In a submission to Holyrood’s education committee, the union also criticised a ‘code of practice’ written for the teachers and health visitors who will become named persons, saying it is too ‘technical and legalistic’ for them to understand.
The criticism has led to renewed calls for the initiative to be scrapped.
EIS officers will give evidence to Holyrood’s education committee tomorrow. In its submission, the union says: ‘There are growing concerns about the viability of the Named Person and that of the Get It Right For Every Child agenda more widely, in practice.
‘Under-resourcing of schools, the burgeoning workload of those whose responsibility is pastoral care, and the lack of time for teachers to work with one another and partner organisations in the interests of children’s wellbeing, are undermining the confidence and ability of teachers to realise the ambitions of the existing policy.’
It warns that the legislation will come at a cost to schools which will need to deal with ‘hundreds of thousands of cases’ and says there would be a need for more ‘administrative support’ in schools.
It goes on: ‘This has implications for the numbers of teaching staff, critically so in schools where there are large numbers of pupils whose needs will require greater support from the NP Service throughout their school careers.’ Members of Holyrood’s delegated powers and law reform committee have already claimed teachers and health workers will need ‘legal degrees’ to understand their responsibilities. Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘‘Teachers who are already facing large workloads don’t have the capacity to take on this responsibility.
‘It is clear that we need to ditch this unworkable and unnecessary plan, and it is time that the SNP realised this.’
The Scottish Council of Independent Schools also raised concerns about the scheme. It said: ‘The definition of wellbeing is so broad that practitioners will interpret this in various ways.
‘The grey area of “significant wellbeing concern” (that is not child protection) would benefit from being more clearly defined before any rationale for information sharing can be determined.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Named Person functions are integrated into the role of promoted teachers who already provide advice and support to children and parents.
‘We continue to support all those involved in implementing this legislation which will ensure children get the right support, from the right people, at the right time.’
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