The SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee met and carefully considered the latest pay offer for 2024-2025 from the employers (COSLA) received on 2 September.
The Committee reluctantly agreed to recommend acceptance of the 4.27% offer to members. An online consultative ballot will commence on Thursday 5 September to seek members approval. Although there were reservations expressed at the meeting, due to the current financial climate, accompanied by COSLA stating this was a full and final offer, the Committee felt this was the best deal that could be achieved at this time. Although the pay offer retains some of the progress made in recent pay settlements awards it still falls short of the restoration of salary to historical levels due to years of austerity.
The Committee also took the view that the education system needs to change to address the issues teachers face in secondary schools.
- Individual teachers, support staff and parents have shouldered the burden of budget cuts and deteriorating conditions of service.
- Serving teachers are finding workload and poor pupil behaviour are having a major negative impact on their health and well-being.
- The increasing number of pupils with ASN in schools whilst at the same time ASN teachers and other education professionals are being reduced.
- Failings elsewhere in society result in the default response of ‘schools can do it instead’.
- The ability of external agencies to drop massive workload increases on schools without warning must cease.
Paul Cochrane, SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Convenor said.
“Teachers should be allowed to teach, and pupils be allowed to learn, free from the negative impact of inappropriate pupil behaviour. Schools should have excellent resources, coherent courses, and sensible assessment arrangements. The Management side of the SNCT continues to prevaricate on the Government commitment to reducing teacher class contact by 90 minutes due to an argument of how this time should be used. The SSTA is adamant that this time should be planning, preparation and correction directed by the teacher. Improvements are needed before Scottish Education deteriorates beyond redemption.”
The SSTA position was reported to the SNCT Teacher Side meeting held today and each of the unions have agreed to consult their members in the coming days.
The consultative ballot will commence on Thursday 5th September and will close on Tuesday 10th September at 12.00pm. The email invitations will be sent out on Thursday afternoon to the ‘preferred’ email address we hold for members.