The education of the nation’s young people must always be a top priority for government, no matter which political party happens to be in power at any given time. Education is the bedrock of our society, providing the foundation for just about every aspect of our lives.

Without education, there are no doctors and nurses, no scientists or engineers. Without education, industry and commerce would founder, our creative and culture sector would be hollowed out, while all of our public services would grind to a halt. In short, education is a societal essential.

It is for this reason that education is consistently high on the political agenda. Other priorities will come and go, but education is an ever-present, and an area where political parties are always keen to state their case and make their mark.

Such high political tariff on matters of education is something of a double-edged sword for professional educators, pupils and parents, and this was absolutely the case ahead of the last Scottish Parliament election.

Making pledges on education

The party which emerged as the winner at the last election, the SNP, made a number of key pledges on education in its manifesto. Amongst these were pledges to recruit 3,500 additional teachers during the term of this parliament, together with a promise to reduce the maximum class-contact time for teachers from 22.5 hours per week (amongst the highest in Europe) to 21 hours per week as a step towards reducing what have been chronically high levels of teacher workload.

Both of these pledges were widely welcomed within the education community, as well as further afield. Scotland desperately needs more teachers in our schools, to deliver the high quality of education that our young people should have the right to expect. With many young people still struggling to recover from the long-lasting impacts of the lockdown experience, and with 40% of all pupils in Scotland now having an identified Additional Support Need, the requirement for enhanced teacher numbers in schools is at an all-time high.

Scotland desperately needs more teachers in our schools, to deliver the high quality of education that our young people should have the right to expect.

Reducing teachers’ class contact time is key to addressing the excessive levels of workload that face the profession. With one of the largest class-teaching commitments across OECD nations, teachers in Scotland work, on average, more than 11 hours extra, unpaid, on top of their contractual hours each and every week, in order to try to keep on top of their soaring workload. This is compounded by Scotland having the amongst the largest class sizes in the OECD- manifesto promises made in 2007 to reduce class sizes have never come to real fruition.

Resultant excessive teacher workload simply isn’t sustainable. Stress amongst teachers is reaching epidemic levels, with serious and long-lasting consequences for teachers’ health and wellbeing. An increasing number of teachers have either left the profession early, or are actively seeking to do so, worn down by the excessive pressures that are placed upon them. None of this is good news for learners either: research evidence clearly demonstrates that the working conditions and associated wellbeing of teachers have a direct relationship to students’ educational outcomes.

Progress – what progress?

Four years on from the last Holyrood election, and less than a year out from the next one, and where have we got to in respect of those Scottish Government commitments to education?

The answer, sadly, is not very far at all. In 2021, Scotland had 54,285 teachers working in its schools, according to official statistics. In 2024, the equivalent figure was 53,412. The numeracy we all learned in school lets us calculate quickly that Scotland has 873 teachers fewer in 2025 than we did when the manifesto promise was made.

So, not only have the promised 3,500 additional teachers failed to materialise in our schools, the number of teachers in Scotland has actually fallen significantly over the past four years. At a time of rising need in terms of pupil support, there are now fewer teachers than there were at the time of the last election, and fewer teachers then than there were in 2007, when Scotland has 55,100 teachers working in its schools.

Progress on the Scottish Government commitment to reduce teachers’ class contact time has been less than glacial. Not only has the promised 1.5 hour reduction in class contact not been delivered, there is still no proposal or plan on how it might be delivered. Teachers have shown a remarkable degree of patience in waiting for the Scottish Government, and Scotland’s local authorities, to agree a way forward on delivery. But, after a wait of four years and a series of missed opportunities, that patience has now evaporated.

Following a recent warning to the Scottish Government and Councils from teaching unions led by the EIS, a dispute was declared over the failure to deliver the class contact time commitment. This prompted further discussion amongst all parties, but still teachers are waiting for something tangible to emerge. 100 days on from a dispute being declared, there are still no proposals on the table.

Action as last resort

It is because of the failure of the Scottish Government and local authorities to deliver on education promises that Scotland’s teachers find themselves facing an option of last resort – a move to potential industrial action to force delivery of the government’s manifesto pledges.

Having burned through a great deal of teacher goodwill over the past four years, the Scottish Government and Scotland’s councils truly are drinking in the last-chance saloon.

The EIS has, at its recent Council meeting, decided that it will move ahead with an industrial action ballot over the non-delivery of the class contact-time commitment. This is not a step that anyone wanted to take but, after four years and a series of delays, missed opportunities and broken promises, it is a step that we will take, reluctantly, in the best interests of Scottish education.

The ballot will open at the EIS AGM in June, and will close early in the next school session. Scotland’s teachers will be asked to support industrial action, up to and including strike action, to compel the Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities to work together to deliver the vital promises made to teachers whose unpaid work is hugely subsidising the education system and has done for years.

Having burned through a great deal of teacher goodwill over the past four years, the Scottish Government and Scotland’s councils truly are drinking in the last-chance saloon. They must now deliver on the pledges they have made to Scottish education, its teachers and its learners, or face the reality of industrial action in schools in the run-up to the next Scottish Parliament elections in May.

It is time for the Scottish Government and Scotland’s local authorities to Stand Up for Quality Education, and deliver the much-needed support that our schools and our teachers need to allow them to offer the best possible educational experience for all young people. A failure to do so is not just failing Scottish education, it is failing Scotland’s entire society, both now and in the future. Our politicians must deliver, for all of Scotland’s sake.