As usual for the last meeting of Council of the academic year, the May meeting looked ahead to the imminent EIS AGM, set to be held at the Dundee Caird Hall in the first week in June. Council approved the list of motions and amendments which will be debated in Dundee, and agreed other final arrangements for the AGM.

President-elect Allan Crosbie, delivering the report of the EIS Executive Committee, told Council that a key piece of work to support the EIS Stand Up for Quality Education (SU4QE) campaign – a draft joint statement on ASN – had now been completed, and approaches are now being made to other key stakeholders to seek their support for this element of the SU4QE campaign.

Mr Crosbie also advised Council that Cabinet Secretary Jenny Gilruth had accepted an invitation to address the EIS AGM, and had agreed to the proposed format of a speech, followed by a question and answer session.

On the ongoing FELA dispute, the President-elect highlighted the strong coverage of the dispute in the previous week’s Herald newspaper, and highlighted the growing pressure that was being placed on the Scottish Government by opposition MSPs in relation to their failure to intervene to seek a resolution to the dispute.

Mr Crosbie told Council that the approval of a policy paper on taxation establishes the EIS position in this area, and will enable the EIS to point to how additional money can be raised to support public services.

The President-elect responded to a question by Jehan Al-Azzawi (Edinburgh) and confirmed that a recent invitation by the EIS to all local authorities to make use of the free EIS resource to support learning and teaching on the Israel-Palestine conflict had yielded no response from any local authority in Scotland.

Mr Crosbie concluded his report to Council by paying tribute to President Paula McEwan for her work over the past year, lauding her “exceptional leadership and incredible commitment to all EIScampaigning work over the past year.”

Education Committee

Convener Susan Quinn updated Council on a wide range of issues, starting with the long-running saga over proposed educational reform. Ms Quinn told Council that the Committee had reflected on an EIS response to the Cabinet Secretary’s statement on qualifications reform, in particular the suggestion by the Cabinet Secretary that there was no clear view from an online survey of teachers on the way forward.

A deeper dive into the survey results showed that the concerns were associated with funding and insufficient time to implement reform. The EIS restated members’ views via a press release and continues to argue for change to reduce the emphasis on highstakes exams.

On SQA matters, Ms Quinn highlighted that a letter of guidance had been issued by the Cabinet Secretary on the issue of dual presentations. Dual presentations remain a matter of considerable concern to the EIS, including concerns over the workload implications and increased pressure on students and staff.

The Committee also heard of the SQA’s concerns that many (up to 83%) of the qualifications being delivered for the first time in schools, such as vocational qualifications, are being delivered without SQA approval and this will lead to pupils not being certified. Centres have been notified of the need to seek approval from the SQA prior to commencing the delivery of new courses, said Ms Quinn.

Employment Relations Committee

Susan Slater, Employment Relations Convener, updated Council on the work of the Committee and advised that the Committee had considered 36 applications to the Benevolent Fund and 27 grants totalling £87,000 were authorised.

Homologation was given for 16 emergency grants, which had been authorised, by the Convener, Vice Convener and Accountant. The Committee also welcomed donations to the Benevolent Fund from three local associations.

Equality Committee

Convener Nicola Fisher said that the Committee had considered a proposal from the Executive Committee that the Equality Fringe at the EIS AGM 2024 should focus on Additional Support Needs, with input from an education and equality perspective.

The Committee endorsed this approach and agreed that the event should be organised by the Education and Equality Department.

Ms Fisher said that the EIS will respond to the Scottish Government Consultation on Learning Disabilities, Autism, and Neurodivergence Bill. There are already concerns from the Education Committee, regarding how it would interface with the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004 and also on the issue of resourcing.

The Committee noted that EIS Pride merchandise from 2023 had been tremendously popular and needed to be replenished, owing to increased local association involvement in local Pride events. Local associations will be encouraged to attend these events again this year, said Ms Fisher.

Salaries Committee

Updating Council on the progress – or lack thereof – of the settlement of the teachers’ pay claim for 2024/2025, Convener Des Morris advised that the Extended Joint Chairs of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) had met on 1st of May.

The teachers’ side had requested this meeting to seek updates on key issues, including the SNCT pay claim. “We were advised that employers’ side chair currently had no mandate to make an initial pay offer, in response to the teachers’ pay claim submitted in January,” said Mr Morris.

Mr Morris told Council that the employers’ side had stated that it would be waiting for publication of the Scottish Government medium-term financial strategy, and public sector pay policy, before making any pay offer.

The EIS is clear that, whatever public sector pay policy says, it does not over-ride the principles of free collective bargaining that is in place via the SNCT, Mr Morris highlighted.

Mr Morris added, “The teachers’ side expressed its extreme frustration that, despite moving the settlement date to August to facilitate settlements being delivered on time, that the time available seems to have been squandered – the running down of the clock is on them, not on us. In essence, we will have the month of June available to conduct negotiations, with a view to settling by the due date of August 1st.”

A special meeting of Salaries Committee would be held at the conclusion of the Council meeting, said Mr Morris, to discuss urgent current issues, including the SNCT pay claim.

On the Scottish Government commitment to reduce teachers’ class contact time, Mr Morris said that it remains the position of the EIS and the teachers’ side that we await confirmation from the Scottish Government on how they intend to deliver their commitment by the end of the Parliament in 2026.

Responding to a question from Jane McKeown (Fife) on any further assistance that can be offered in helping members reclaim overpaid tax that resulted from the late payment of the last pay settlement by some local authorities, Mr Morris said, “EIS HQ is in the process of writing to employers, to ascertain the content of recent communications between employers and HMRC.

“The EIS has very limited powers to act in this area on behalf of members, as tax is a personal matter for each individual, but we continue to do all that we can to seek a resolution on this issue for members.”