Schools set to shut again as more strikes loom
Teachers in Stirling are set to embark on a further round of strike action in an ongoing dispute over pay next month.
The national strike will see teachers represented by a trio of unions - Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the Association of Head Teachers and Deputes Scotland (AHDS) and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) - head out on January 10.
The move means all primary schools and additional support needs provisions in Stirling closed to pupils on that date, although nurseries and stand-alone nursery classes will remain open as normal.
Meanwhile, all Stirling Council secondaries and ASN provisions will be closed the following day (January 11) due to action by the EIS, NASUWT and Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA).
Free school meal provision will be made in the form of a payment on January 10, with primaries re-opening on January 11 and secondaries on January 12 after their respective strike dates.
Seamus Searson, SSTA general secretary, said:“three years ago, the Deputy First Minister, when Cabinet Secretary for Education, promised the teacher unions that teachers pay must be settled on time and without the prolonged procrastination orchestrated by the employers (COSLA).
“This pay increase should have been in teacher wage packets in April this year: but we still await payment. The SSTA calls on the DFM to be true to his word and settle this pay dispute now.”
Meanwhile, AHDS general secretary, Greg Dempster, added: “To resolve this pay dispute, a genuinely improved offer needs to be brought forward.
“The teachers’side has been clear that for an offer to be acceptable, it must be undifferentiated.”