The first meeting of Council for 2021, held remotely to comply with COVID-19 legislation, was held shortly after schools returned for the New Year on a remote learning model for most pupils. Council discussed the circumstances that had led to the government shifting to the closure of schools for all pupils except for children of key workers and some vulnerable young people.

Vice-President Heather Hughes reported on the most recent meeting of the Executive Committee, which had included a presentation on COVID-19 from a representative of Public Health Scotland. A further meeting has been arranged to seek further information, as there were many questions from Executive members that required further investigation by PHS.

Ms Hughes also reported that the piloting of testing in schools was now underway in several local authority areas. The EIS believes that mass testing is essential to improving school safety, said Ms Hughes, and it is hoped that this can be rolled out nationally in the near future.

The Vice-President updated Council on the success of the EIS ‘Not at all Costs’ social media campaign which ran before the Christmas break, which had successfully raised questions around school safety and highlighted that schools could not remain open at all costs. Ms Hughes reported that the campaign had been cited twice by the First Minister during daily Coronavirus briefings, indicating that the message had reached the highest levels of government.

A decision had been taken to move the 2021 AGM to an online platform, said Ms Hughes. While this was a decision that the EIS did not want to take, it was felt that this decision was important to provide certainty for Local Associations. Motions will still be submitted, as normal.

Ms Hughes also recorded congratulations, on behalf of Council, on General Secretary Larry Flanagan’s election as President of the ETUCE (European Trade Union Committee for Education).

Susan Quinn (Glasgow) asked if the momentum of the Not at all Costs campaign would be maintained to push for a commitment to blended or remote learning whenever authorities are in Level 4 restrictions. Ms Hughes confirmed that EIS policy is for Level 4 to trigger an automatic move to blended / remote learning in affected LAs. The ad-hoc committee will take this issue forward, said Ms Hughes.

Committee Reports

Education

Convener Susan Quinn reported that ongoing discussions on SQA matters had been the biggest item on the agenda for the Committee. A wide-variety of issues were under discussion, including the changes to SQA processes, the workload implications, and the issue of additional payment for teachers involved in assessing for SQA qualifications.

Equality

Vice-Convener James McIntyre reported that the Committee had received a presentation by the Maryhill Integration Network which focused on their work on the experiences of migrants, including the planned launch of a postcard campaign highlighting the issues. The EIS has offered some financial support and will continue to work with the Network on the circulation and promotion of resources.

Employment Relations

Convener David Baxter welcomed recent Benevolent Fund donations from two Local Associations, and looking ahead to local AGM time, appealed to any LAs discussing possible charitable donations to consider the benevolent fund. The Committee had approved 5 emergency grants and 11 applications for assistance at its last meeting, said Mr Baxter.

Salaries

Convener Des Morris confirmed that the SNCT teachers’ panel unanimously agreed the pay claim for 2021-2022, and this has now been submitted to the full SNCT. The aim is to have an agreed pay settlement paid by April, and not allow the employers to drag the process out as has happened in previous years, said Mr Morris. Note – This was prior to the Scottish Government’s budget statement, which has implications for all public sector pay awards.