Wednesday is a Day of Action called by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) to support teachers who are employed on temporary contracts.
In a week’s time the education workers’ union will open a statutory ballot on industrial action. This is designed to force The Scottish Government to keep to its manifesto pledge and reduce class contact time from 22.5 hours to 21 hours each week.
Today teachers in Edinburgh will wear red to school in support of the union moves.
Phill Pearce, a Primary teacher and President of Edinburgh EIS Local Association, said: “Precarity of contract is an increasing problem for teachers in Edinburgh, particularly amongst newly qualified and recently qualified teachers, and particularly for Primary teachers.
“Many of our members felt inspired to come into teaching, but have found since completing their probation year that getting a permanent post is virtually impossible. They have to rely on temporary contracts – short-term supply and fixed term temporary work.
“These posts do not give job security, limit professional development, lower job satisfaction and do not provide a decent or regular income. Some newly and recently qualified teachers have had no alternative but to leave the profession.”
Mr Pearce added “In Edinburgh Local Association, we’ve called on all our members to wear red today as a sign of solidarity with our colleagues trapped within this precarity, and to vote YES next week in favour of industrial action in pursuit of the reduction in class contact time.
“A key way to end precarity is to create more teaching jobs. The Scottish Government’s commitment to reduce class contact time from 22.5 hours to 21 hours per week would be a huge step forward in mitigating the precarity crisis. And this is why the EIS national statutory ballot is necessary – to pressure the Scottish Government and COSLA to deliver the 21 hours of weekly class contact.”
One EIS Primary teacher, who is on a temporary contract in Edinburgh, and who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I’m a fully qualified teacher with several years of experience and over 100 hours of professional training, and I’m living term to term with no opportunities for career stability, let alone advancement.
“At the moment I’m on the supply list and I have to weigh the cost of attending every interview for a longer-term position, because it means a day I can’t take supply opportunities.
“Emotionally it’s stressful and draining to not know what my future in the profession looks like, and I feel undervalued. I’m a skilled and motivated teacher with a lot of good practice, but that can be hard to get across in an interview; especially when there are sometimes over 100 applicants for permanent roles.
“Overall, it’s really demoralising to be competing in such a crowded field, while knowing that the teachers lucky enough to have secure positions are burning out at alarming rates because of unmanageable workload. The last two positions I’ve held have been covering teachers on long-term absence, which just means more uncertainty for me, for the school, and for the pupils.
“Cutting contact hours would reduce teacher workload and create more roles for teachers currently in precarious positions. That’s why I’m wearing red today and why I will vote yes in the consultative ballot”
Another Primary EIS member reported: “This is affecting my mental health. I am 29 years old and putting my life on hold due to the fact that it is near impossible to get a permanent contract. I am having difficulties getting a mortgage for my first property due to my temporary contract. There is no chance of me being able to afford to have children with the complete lack of job security. I would need a permanent contract to receive full maternity pay. I am completely and utterly stuck.”
Alison Murphy, Edinburgh EIS Local Association Secretary, said: “These members’ experiences are typical of the hundreds of teachers in Edinburgh, and the thousands across Scotland, who are feeling trapped, devalued and disposable. The EIS locally works with Senior Education Managers in Edinburgh to have teachers transferred to permanence when their particular situations merit it legally, but too often there is nothing that can be done.
“The cut in contact hours is currently the only hope in sight and that is why we are having to threaten industrial action. Without it, the precarity and workload crises will simply get worse.”
