EIS President Carole Thorpe spoke to the SEJ about the unusual circumstances in which the union is currently operating, and we learned her thoughts on the challenges that lie ahead for Scottish education.

You were elected as President for 2020/2021 – can you tell us about your teaching and trade union background?

I have been a primary teacher for many years and have taught all stages from nursery up to primary 7. My interest in trade unionism began with my parents. My mother was a teacher and a long-standing member of the EIS who attended many AGMs. I joined the EIS as a student teacher and, when I started working, I began attending local meetings, later becoming school rep and health and safety rep. Over the years I have continued as H&S rep in school as well as, occasionally acting as school rep. I became a member of the Grampian Regional Executive and later Aberdeen City Local Executive. I became health and safety officer for Aberdeen City Local Association and my interest in Equalities led me to join the first cohort doing the EIS Equality Rep training – I completed both stages of this and when our Local Association Equalities officer retired, I took on this role.

Your Presidential year comes at a unique time, with the COVID-19 Pandemic impacting on all aspects of our lives – what particular challenges has this presented in terms of EIS activity and your role as President?

From the start of my Vice-Presidential year last August, I spent a very large number of hours on trains between Aberdeen and the central belt as well as many nights in hotels. Then came lockdown and since then I have spent my working week at home sitting in the kitchen – or on occasion varying my “office” to another room for a change.

It has been difficult not being able to meet up with colleagues to discuss issues and share ideas. As President having to chair meetings virtually does present some difficulties – many in relation to technology. It is also more challenging to facilitate discussion in online platforms. This year many conferences have had to be cancelled or changed to online – including the EIS AGM and with time constraints there has been less opportunity for motions to be submitted and debated so, this year, members have not had the same opportunity to influence policy as usual.

The Pandemic has been a worrying time for teachers and lecturers across Scotland – what is the EIS doing to ensure that members are safe in their places of work?

At the start of lockdown, Local Association Secretaries began meeting weekly with national officers to discuss developments and to plan responses at both national and local level.

In Aberdeen, and across the country, Local Secretaries and health and safety reps have been in regular meetings with councils and other local trade unions around health and safety issues. Nationally, the General Secretary attends the CERG committee meetings – although this committee is advisory and discretion to act on this advice lies with the Deputy First Minister and Scottish Government, the General Secretary has continued to strongly convey the concerns of members.

We have provided support and advice for those who were shielding and pregnant members. The EIS website has guidance and answers to common questions and is regularly updated, while regular Bulletins have kept members informed about relevant developments and issues.

We have developed appropriate health and safety training to help give our members skills and knowledge to deal with issues within their own schools, and this training was delivered across the country through a series of webinars. We also developed checklists for reps which can be used very practically at school and classroom level. And, of course, we continue to push for smaller classes to make schools safer for all staff and pupils.

COVID-19 has dominated all aspects of our lives this year – how concerned are you about the long-term impact of the pandemic on Scottish education and, particularly, on learners in our schools, colleges and universities?

I am hugely concerned about the long-term effects this pandemic will have on our young people. Learners in our schools, colleges and universities have had to get used to learning in ways that are entirely different from normal. In schools, pupils are facing teachers with masks, teachers keeping their distance from them as much as possible, no mixing of classes, constant hand-washing using up large parts of the school day and worried adults all around them at home and in class.

Lack of face to face contact for students at universities and colleges leads to feelings of isolation and loneliness. This year, positive destinations for school-leavers have been drastically reduced with fewer apprenticeships and training opportunities available. college and university graduates are trying hard to find positions in a job-market which has shrunk hugely and is flooded with people who have lost jobs but who have the experience that employers want.

Many companies have frozen their graduate training programmes and, given the restrictions, it is impossible for this year’s cohorts to even take up volunteering positions in order to gain some experience. Our young people are already facing a future affected by global warming, Brexit and a precarious, low-wage economy; COVID has made this much, much worse for them.

Moving away from COVID-19 for a moment, what do you view as the other key priorities for your Presidential term?

It is difficult to look at anything without regard to COVID as this affects every aspect of our lives and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Last year we began our Time to Tackle Workload campaign and I feel this must remain a key priority for the EIS. There is absolutely no doubt that the workload of teachers has vastly increased during the pandemic. There are many things that can be done to ensure workload is reduced. Smaller class sizes would reduce teacher workload, make schools safer and allow teachers time to provide more support to vulnerable pupils. Teacher empowerment is crucial for staff in schools at the moment; decision-making must be a joint activity between staff and management. One of my priorities is to ensure health and safety reps are involved within their establishments in meaningful ways and not just kept informed of decisions.

When you look back in the future, what do you think or hope will be the legacy of your term as EIS President?

I find it difficult to imagine what will come out of this year as President. The future is unclear and I cannot imagine that things will ever entirely return to normal. I hope that the importance of health and safety in the workplace will become something that is seen by everyone as positive and necessary.

Too often in the past people have ignored health and safety and have believed the various “urban myths” perpetuated by sections of the media. The right to be safe at work has been a hard-won fight and we should be in no doubt that, after Brexit, rights will be under threat. Coronavirus has shown the importance of health and safety legislation and even though I do not believe schools are completely safe at the moment, without health and safety law, it would be even more difficult to mitigate against the risks for staff and pupils