The SNCT Teachers’ Side met this morning and unanimously accepted the pay offer of 4.27% for all SNCT grades from 1 August 2024. This position was stated at a meeting of the SNCT Extended Joint Chairs (SSTA, EIS, the employers, and Scottish Government) that followed. The teacher side expected that the payment would be made as soon a s possible as the payment date had passed. The SNCT pay circular is to be finalised with the teacher side ensuring that it is recorded as a ‘restorative’ pay deal and continue to be the case in future pay awards. (provisional pay scales)
Paul Cochrane SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Convenor said.
“The SSTA members have reluctantly understood that this is the best deal that could be achieved in the current financial circumstances. The SSTA has urged the employers to move quickly to ensure that payment is received by teachers without delay. Many teachers were disadvantaged because of delayed payments in 2023 and an early payment this year would be taken as a sign of goodwill.”
The SNCT Teachers’ Side issued a joint statement, the text of which can be found below.
SNCT Teachers’ Side Joint Statement
The Teachers’ Panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) has today agreed to accept the pay offer of 4.27% from COSLA. This decision was taken following the constituent unions on the panel consulting with their respective memberships.
In accepting this offer, the Teachers’ Panel welcomes its undifferentiated nature and the stated recognition of the Employers’ Side of the SNCT that the offer marks the first step towards the restoration of teacher salaries in Scotland. The Teachers’ Panel looks forward to working with Employers and the Scottish Government on the creation of a ‘roadmap’ to restoration in the value of teachers’ pay to pre-austerity levels, across all career stages and salary levels.
The Teachers’ Panel remains committed to achieving meaningful progress towards solutions to the other challenges facing Scottish teachers. Not least of these is urgently reducing unsustainable levels of workload, which can begin to be addressed through the realisation of the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitment to decrease class contact time to 21 hours per week. The Teachers’ Panel is clear that there needs to be swift movement on this reduction and that the resulting hour and a half a week must be afforded to teachers for planning and preparation of learning, which at present, is being undertaken in large part in teachers’ own time, unpaid.