EIS suspends industrial action in teacher workloads dispute
Scotland's largest teaching union has suspended industrial action over workloads after a decision to scrap some assessments.
Scotland's largest teaching union has suspended industrial action over workloads after a decision to scrap some assessments.
At a meeting of its national council, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) agreed to call off the action short of a strike in relation to "excessive" teacher workloads.
It followed confirmation by the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) management board on Thursday that mandatory unit assessments will be removed at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher levels.
Pupil's grades will instead be determined by strengthened final exams and coursework which will be marked externally.
Welcoming the move, EIS said it would lighten the burden of assessment on pupils and teachers in secondary schools.
General secretary Larry Flanagan said: "The agreement that has now been reached at the CfE management board, based on a proposal submitted by the EIS, is a significant victory for teachers and pupils in our secondary schools.
"The changes that have been agreed, to permanently remove compulsory unit assessments from all National 5 and Higher courses, will ease the assessment burden on pupils and teachers, and create time and space for deeper learning and teaching in our classrooms."
He added: "Today is not the end of the process of cutting SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) workload but demonstrates our good faith in the promises that have been made.
"It is now for the SQA to deliver its commitments and the EIS will be watching very closely to ensure that all the promises that have been made to pupils and teachers are kept."
An SQA spokesman said: "SQA has started to plan and assess how the overall design, operational, and systems requirements will be delivered, now that the Deputy First Minister has announced that the changes to national courses have been agreed by the Curriculum for Excellence management board.
"The changes will be implemented for National 5 in the 2017/18 session, for Higher in the 2018/19 session and for Advanced Higher in the 2019/20 session.
"We have started to review how each course is assessed and will consider whether an exam and/or coursework needs to be introduced or strengthened, to ensure they assess the full content of the course.
"We remain committed to the continued implementation of the National Qualifications and to maintaining their integrity and credibility.
"We will continue to work with local authorities, schools, colleges, partners and teaching unions to ensure the standards and credibility of the qualifications are maintained during this revision of the course assessments."
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: "This is welcome news from the EIS and I am delighted that they have confirmed suspending a programme of industrial action in relation to teacher workload.
"Over the past few months, I have listened carefully to what teachers, parents, young people and others have had to say on workload, and have responded positively with a range of actions to help reduce workload pressures.
"I have taken swift action in response to feedback from teachers and others, to de-clutter the curriculum guidance and review the workload demands placed on teachers by local authorities.
"The new measures around the qualifications, ratified by the CfE management board yesterday, will build on this work, reducing workload and over assessment for teachers and learners."