Teachers' union calls off strikes after workload deal

Strike action planned for schools in six Scottish council areas next week has been called off after a deal on teacher workload was agreed.

Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, had planned walkouts across two days at schools in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Dundee, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Moray.

It issued formal notice of industrial action over a failure to keep a promise to cut the maximum amount of time teachers spend in front of a class by 90 minutes.

A deal reached between the unions and the Scottish government earlier this week has been approved after a meeting of Cosla - which represents the councils that employ teachers.

EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: "The EIS is extremely pleased that a negotiated outcome, which has been approved by all sides, has now been achieved in this long-running dispute.

"This agreement will have a positive impact on teacher workload and will help to create more jobs for the many newly and recently qualified teachers currently seeking secure employment in schools across Scotland."

The strike action was planned after a ballot of EIS members came back earlier this month with an overwhelming majority in favour.

The result showed 85% of those who took part in the ballot backing the move.

The union said it wanted councils and the Scottish government to do more to cut the maximum time each teacher can spend in front of a class by 90 minutes, as pledged in the SNP's 2021 Holyrood election manifesto.

The current limit for classroom teaching time is 22.5 hours and this agreement will bring that down to 21 hours.

Under the deal, the reduction in teaching time will be phased in, beginning with primary teachers and special school teachers in August 2027.

The reduction will be implemented in secondary schools in 2029.

The Scottish government has agreed to pay for the full cost of the changes, which will include hiring more teaching staff.

This includes an extra £40m next year for the recruitment of additional teachers to deliver the change.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said the agreement was a significant milestone for teachers.

"By giving teachers more protected time, we are taking meaningful action to reduce workload and stress, supporting a healthier, more sustainable teaching profession," she said.

The draft agreement will now go to the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers for work on changes to teacher contracts.

A spokesperson for Cosla told the BBC that the coming years would "be difficult, as the magnitude of change will present challenges" but that council leaders supported the way forward, recognising that there had been concessions on all sides.

"Despite concerns being expressed by councils, in the interests of reaching a constructive way forward and attempting to avert planned strike action, leaders have agreed to support the joint approach," a statement from Cosla said.

"Throughout implementation, Cosla will always prioritise what is in the best interest of children and young people."

The BBC understands that recruitment of teachers in secondary subjects will now be a key challenge as there are already shortages in STEM subjects.

Previous modelling had shown that at least 3,000 additional teachers would need to be hired to fulfil the additional 90-minute commitment, although pupil numbers across Scotland have fallen since then.

While a surplus of primary teachers have been trained in the past five years, education leaders will need to make sure they can hire teachers in the right places across the country.

The changes will not impact the overall number of hours that pupils are in class.

East Renfrewshire were set to be the first impacted, with schools and nurseries set to close on Tuesday 17 March and Monday 23 March.

Fife council confirmed that members had been invited to strike on the same days.

Glasgow City Council was confirmed for Wednesday 18 and Tuesday 24 March.

Schools in Dundee would also be impacted on these days.

Meanwhile, in Moray, schools were set to close on Thursday 19 March and possibly Wednesday 25 March. Perth and Kinross was also these days.

Although six council areas were to have been impacted to begin with, all of Scotland's 32 local authorities received official notification of intention to strike last Friday.