High School Teachers in Dundee Oppose Plans for 33 Period Week

Secondary teachers in Dundee have signalled their clear opposition to Dundee City Council’s plans to introduce a 33 period week in Secondary schools. More than 60% of teachers oppose the plans, while over 26% believe they have not received enough information on the council’s plan. Just one teacher in ten surveyed supports the proposal.

Published 1st Dec 2015

Secondary teachers in Dundee have signalled their clear opposition to Dundee City Council’s plans to introduce a 33 period week in Secondary schools. More than 60% of teachers oppose the plans, while over 26% believe they have not received enough information on the council’s plan. Just one teacher in ten surveyed supports the proposal.

Commenting, Dundee EIS Secretary David Baxter said, “The Dundee Local Association of the EIS recently surveyed our members working in secondary schools, to ascertain their views on Dundee City Council’s proposed change to a 33 period week. We asked ‘Do you agree with the proposed change to a 33 period week?’ After a very good response from Dundee members, the results clearly indicate that the majority of teachers do not agree with the Council’s proposals. We hope that Dundee City Council will take cognisance of teacher’s views when making any decision surrounding the proposed 33 period week.”

The responses to the EIS survey were as follows:

Yes = 12.42% (agree with the Council’s proposal)

No = 61.46% (do not agree with the Council’s proposal)

Need more Information = 26.11% (neither agree not disagree).

David Baxter added, “It is significant that over a quarter of the EIS members surveyed felt that they needed more information from Dundee City Council to make an informed decision. A recurring theme of some of the individual comments we received was that there was not enough detail given in presenting the proposed 33 period week model and there was not a clear rationale for change.”

The EIS will continue to discuss the matter with Dundee City Council.