Amended Motion 30
Funding Quality Education in Scotland
“That this Congress condemns the ongoing cuts to education services and staffing across Scottish local authorities, jeopardising the quality and sustainability of Scotland’s education system.
“Congress notes that these reductions are in direct conflict with the SNP’s 2021 manifesto commitments to reduce teacher class contact time to 21 hours per week and to recruit 3,500 additional teachers. Unmet promises have resulted in schools struggling and Scottish teachers subsidising the education system hugely with unpaid labour.
“Congress is concerned that years of underfunding have detrimentally affected teacher recruitment and retention, with thousands of newly qualified teachers facing precarious employment or unemployment. Congress believes that the poor treatment of this group of staff and the casualisation of teaching as a profession flies in the face of the promise of security within the Scottish Government’s Fair Work Framework and is forcing many to leave the profession altogether in pursuit of permanent work and a steady income, all of this ultimately compromising the delivery of high-quality learning experiences for pupils.
“Further, Congress remains deeply concerned that Scotland faces some of the largest class sizes and highest teacher contact hours within the OECD, exacerbating teacher workload and diminishing support for students, including the 40% who have additional support needs. Without meaningful increases in funding, the damaging consequences will continue now and for many decades to come.
“Congress firmly believes that Scotland’s citizens deserve the promise of a socially just and high-quality education system to be delivered.
“Congress therefore calls on the Scottish Government to grasp every opportunity to utilise a significant proportion of the additional Barnett consequential funding and to increase tax on wealth, in order to employ additional teachers, support staff and associated professionals, including making additional funding available to introduce across Scotland’s schools a minimum ratio of pupil support staff to pupils to increase staff numbers improving education, reducing workload, increasing non-contact time, meeting the rising additional support needs of pupils, and tackling violence and abuse in schools to provide more teaching and learning resources to schools; and to improve school buildings, making them safe, accessible and fit for purpose.”
Mover: Educational Institute of Scotland
Seconder: GMB Scotland
RSS