Scottish teachers’ pay deal struck

Scottish teachers will see their salaries rise by 1.5 per cent this year and one per cent the following year, if a deal brokered between council bodies and trade unions is accepted by a ballot of teachers.

This year’s rise will be back-dated to April.

The non-pay elements of the deal are thought to have been decisive, including written commitments on managing teachers’ workloads and changes in how supply teachers are paid.

Councils have experienced a chronic shortage of supply teachers after a series of cuts two years ago left many supply teachers on a rate of just £78 a day for the first five days, regardless of experience. The move was backed by Scotland’s largest teaching union EIS at the time.

Under the new deal, the lower rate would apply for only three days, but councils can now choose to pay supply teachers at the full daily rate from the first day of their work.

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EIS General secretary Larry Flanagan said the pay element of the new deal was “disappointing” but the non-pay elements were “positive developments.”

There was a “real-time decline” in teachers’ pay, he said. "At some point action will need to be taken to ensure that teaching remains an attractive profession for young graduates to join," he said.

It is thought many trained teachers may have left the profession in Scotland.

Secondary teachers’ union the SSTA said it had “reluctantly agreed” to accept the new deal. General Secretary Seamus Searson said teachers had “toiled” to deal with more assessments and new qualifications.

“Teachers have been getting Curriculum for Excellence into classrooms over the last 8 years.  Throughout this time they have seen the real value of their salaries reduced,” he said.

If teachers reject the changes, which include changes to their terms and conditions to give local authorities greater flexibility over their working hours, then the pay deal could yet be in jeopardy.