The SEJ spoke to new EIS President Mark Smith, and found out more about his teaching, trade union and even his little-known Olympic background. Can you tell us a little bit about your career in education? It might be hard to believe but I started teaching as a PE teacher in 1993. I worked in […]
When the EIS launched the Stand up for Quality Education (SUFQE) campaign some three years ago, there was a clear recognition that it would be a long-term project. The campaign is focused on some major demands, which are key to delivering a better education system and an enhanced learning and teaching environment for staff and […]
Has the Scottish Government Really learned the lessons of past reform? In her first formal ministerial statement to Parliament as Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic on 2nd September, Mairi McAllan described Scotland’s Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC) as “the largest-ever reform to Curriculum for Excellence.” Scotland’s teachers might view the prospect of further large-scale […]
In the current context of threats to democracy and far right forces seeking to erode the decades of progress won on gender-equality and civil rights, it is no surprise that this inspiring conference title led over 300 women from education trade unions across 55 countries to travel to Bahia, Brazil for the 5th Educational International […]
The Employment Rights Act—passed in December 2025 and implemented throughout 2026 and into 2027—marks the most significant change in UK Employment law in decades, both introducing new and improved rights and reversing many of the statutory restrictions on trade union activity introduced in recent decades. The Act strengthens collective voice, expands protections for millions of […]
Risk assessments are a tool to help identify anything that could cause harm at work (eg an icy playground in the winter, a young person with a history of violent behaviour or using a Bunsen burner in a science classroom); considering how likely that harm is to happen and how serious it could be, and […]
Over the past decade, national bargaining has secured significant improvements to pay, terms and conditions for college lecturers across Scotland. Through sustained negotiation and collective action, EIS-FELA Reps, supported by various National Officers and other EIS staff, have negotiated pay settlements and delivered national terms and conditions of employment. In 2025/26 work was done to […]
What does it take to deliver high-quality college education? It takes skilled and committed lecturers, of course. But it also takes something that is becoming increasingly difficult to find in Education: time and space to do the job properly. Across the College sector lecturers are dealing with increasingly complex student needs, demanding assessment requirements, new […]
September’s meeting of EIS Council, the first of this academic year, welcomed many new members of Council to their first meeting. While some members were new, the issues under discussion had a familiar theme, as continuing disputes in both the Further and Higher education sectors rolled on. Ex-President Adam Sutcliffe delivered the report of the […]
Members of the EIS ULA at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) have escalated their strike action, seeking to protect members from compulsory redundancy after ACAS talks failed to reach a suitable dispute resolution. Starting on Monday 21st September, staff were scheduled to take 14 days of strike action over a four week period to protect jobs […]
