Deputy First Minister and Perthshire North MSP John Swinney has told Perth and Kinross Council they should reinvest any wage savings as a result of the teachers’ strikes into study hubs for pupils hit by walkouts.
The teaching union EIS rejected the offer by the Scottish Government and COSLA for an 11.5 per cent pay rise over two years.
National strikes take place today (February 28), Wednesday, March 1 and again to target Mr Swinney’s constituency on March 7, 8 and 9.
It is estimated Perth and Kinross Council saved £245,000 as a result of a single day – November 24 – when schools were closed in response to the first teacher strike.
A rough estimate of the saved costs to Perth and Kinross Council of eight days of strikes in February and March is £1,960,000.
With no imminent pay deal, parents are angry that some senior pupils are facing unnecessary study hardship because schools in Perthshire North – which were closed because of strikes from Wednesday to Friday last week – would be closed by industrial action for an extra six days on top of two days of strikes to hit the whole of Scotland.
Last week Bertha Park High School Parent Angle Group (BPPAG) wrote to John Swinney, asking him to meet them in Perth to discuss the impact of a whole wave of teachers’ strikes targeting Perthshire schools in his constituency.
The Bertha Park parent body begged Mr Swinney to intervene and help take away the “unfair” and “disproportionate” effect on Perthshire students doing National 5 exams and Highers.
He said: “I have written to Perth and Kinross Council to urge them to reinvest any savings as a result of the teachers’ strike into support for impacted students, such as study hubs.”
A letter sent on Thursday by Lindsay Galloway, chair of Bertha Park High School Parent Angle Group, said of the EIS strikes coming this week and next: “This action is unfair and extremely detrimental to the children in these schools.
“Those due to sit SQA exams will be at a disadvantage compared to their peers in other schools, and the stress of missing these crucial pre-exam school days is having a big impact on the mental health of our teenagers.
“We are writing as deeply concerned parents of pupils who attend Bertha Park High School (BPHS), within your Perthshire North constituency. We are making that latter point clear from the outset as it has significant bearing on the concerns we have.
“The purpose for this letter and our desperate plea to yourself is very simple – we request your urgent attention and absolute focus on seeking to bring a conclusion to the industrial action by teachers which is having a catastrophic impact upon the lives of our children.
“In recent months we have seen much poorer prelim results than anticipated, and some of the teachers at BPHS have been honest enough with the pupils to admit that is likely to be partially down to the fact they haven’t had enough teaching days in which to cover the curriculum required, and are really concerned that the reduction in teaching days between now and the SQA exams means that they will not be able to cover all exam topics.
“Thankfully, BPHS have taken an ever-supportive and pragmatic view of the situation and has introduced some initiatives to help mitigate against the impacts of missing class time, but when you compound this further with the introduction of these additional targeted strikes, it means the pupils of BPHS will be disadvantaged fourfold compared to peers who are not located within your constituency.”
The parents concluded: “We really need action to be taken in order to bring an end to it before it’s too late for the current S4 and S5s, who are essentially being used as pawns in a political stand-off between individuals and organizations who should be there to support them most.
“Ending this dispute should be your first priority... you must act now.”
BPPAG declared it would be sending similar letters to the First Minister, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and also the EIS general secretary.
Mr Swinney said to the PA yesterday: “I have received correspondence from the Bertha Park High School Parents Group and appreciate the concerns they have raised with me.
“I share their opposition to the deliberate targeting of schools within my constituency. Such a move is unfairly and adversely impacting the education of local children.
“I have agreed to meet with the parents’ group to hear their concerns and to discuss how we can ensure their children receive adequate support to compensate for the days of schooling that have been missed.”
