NASUWT: Call to resist McCormac recommendations
Cuts to the education budget, jobs losses and the assault on pay and conditions in Scotland are having a profound and adverse impact on teachers’ morale, the NASUWT’s Annual Conference in Birmingham were told.
A motion debated by delegates calls for resistance “by all appropriate means, including industrial action” to recommendations in the McCormac Report.
They will lead to a further deterioration in teachers’ working conditions in Scotland, compromising the high standards of education seen in Scottish schools, the NASUWT believes.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said:
“It has been proved time and time again that working conditions are inextricably linked to the quality of a child’s education.
“The McCormac Report is stripping teachers of their professionalism and is a blueprint for increasing already excessive workload, further deepening the crisis in teacher morale.
“We are seeing that the changes to conditions of service have had a negative impact on the profession.
“Education in Scotland has been seen rightly as among the best in the UK but further unjustified attacks on conditions of service will only further threaten those distinct provisions.”
Jane Peckham, NASUWT Scotland Organiser, said: “The ongoing implementation of Curriculum for Excellence and the new National Qualifications relies heavily on teachers' goodwill and this is fast running out.
“If the McCormac Report is implemented there will be even more changes to working conditions. This will, in turn, have an impact on pupil attainment as the already high teacher workload is likely to be further increased.”
ENDS
NASUWT Press Office contacts:
Ben Padley 07785 463 119
Lena Davies 07867 392 746
Notes to editors
The NASUWT’s Annual Conference is being held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham from April 6th to the 9th.
The full text of the motion to be debated is below.
2(c) SAFEGUARDING CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
Linda Gray to move, Peter Scott to second:
Conference asserts that the contracted duties and conditions of service set out in the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers Handbook have served Scottish teachers, employers, the Scottish Government and the education service well over the past ten years.
Conference believes that these conditions of service have been the single most critical factor in supporting teachers to work effectively to raise standards of education.
Conference recognises that pay and conditions of service in Scotland have been widely regarded across the UK as the “gold standard” to which other education systems aspire.
Conference is, therefore, deeply concerned by the unwarranted assault on pay and conditions of service being undertaken by the Government and employers.
Conference deplores the profound, adverse impact on teachers’ morale and motivation as a result of the cuts to the education budget, insecurity about job losses, the detrimental changes already made to conditions of service and threats to pension provision.
Conference calls upon the National Executive to continue to resist, by all appropriate means, including industrial action, the implementation of the recommendations in the McCormac Report, which will result in a further deterioration of teachers’ conditions of service and compromise the high standards of education that teachers have secured.
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