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Election over, Education must be priority
Following a Scottish election that might best be described as fairly low-key, the SNP have again emerged as the largest party at Holyrood and will assume the role of the Scottish Government for the next five years.
While, at the time of writing, the precise makeup of the new Scottish Government was yet to be determined, and the new First Minister and Scottish Cabinet had not yet been confirmed, it appears certain that the SNP will govern as a minority administration under John Swinney as First Minister.
Operating as a minority administration brings obvious challenges to the government, but it also provides an opportunity to work constructively with other parties to deliver on common objectives that will benefit the people of Scotland.
It is vital that these shared priorities must include enhancing support for education across Scotland. Our schools, colleges and universities are vital to the future of Scotland, and they must be properly supported and properly funded for the essential work that they do.
Education sometimes did not appear to be atop the list of priorities for many of the parties ahead of the election, with much of the focus on constitutional issues and the cost of living. The EIS sought to change that with the publication of our Manifesto for Education, making clear the importance of education to the whole of Scotland.
We will continue to push the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Parliament as a whole, to deliver the funding and resources required to ensure a high-quality experience for all learners, of all ages, across the country.
Our major campaign, Stand Up for Quality Education, continues, having already gained commitments in relation to pupil behaviour and having secured a long-awaited agreement on tackling teacher workload through reducing maximum class contact time. These are significant wins that have been achieved by the collective power of the EIS.
The EIS AGM, to be at held at Dundee Caird Hall shortly after this SEJ is published, will determine the campaign priorities for the institute in the year ahead. It is likely that the third key component of the Stand Up for Quality Education campaign, enhancing support for young people with Additional Support Needs, will be a key focus as we move forward.
Significant challenges exist, too, in both the Further and Higher Education sectors, where funding issues remain, and where threats to jobs, terms and conditions continue to be a significant challenge for trade unions.
The EIS remains in dispute at Edinburgh Napier University over cuts, and an industrial action ballot at Glasgow Caledonian University as underway at the time of writing in light of threatened job cuts there.
As ever, the EIS is at the vanguard of the campaign to protect Scottish education, at all levels, and to fight against damaging cuts wherever they are threatened. It is our unity and our collective strength that offer the best hope to fend off these threats on behalf of Scotland’s teaching professionals and learners.
