AN urgent freeze on new school reforms is required to get Scotland’s education system back on track, secondary teachers have said.
Members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) will debate the call at their annual congress next week.
A motion from the SSTA’s national executive committee sates: “Education in Scotland has faced a 10-year period of almost continuous change.
“A new curriculum, a change in curricular models, a change in the national exams, and change in policy around additional support needs has all happened in a climate of efficiency savings.
“The SSTA calls on the Scottish Government to place a moratorium on change in educational policy for a minimum of three years to allow teachers, schools and local authorities time to embed fully these changes in their practices.”
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the SSTA, said teachers were sick of the constant reforms and changes.
He said: “The constant demand for change in a time when teachers and support staff have been cut back year on year has demoralised the teaching workforce.
“The demand for reform has led to rushed system changes, often without a trial before implementation which has led to an unplanned programme of initiatives that have been a burden on teachers and pupils.
“The lack of input from practicing teachers to tease out the problems has led to crisis after crisis that has to be fixed in a rush. The consequence is further unexpected consequences that have led to more disruption and more stress.”
The SSTA will discuss a range of other issues including lack of support for pupils with conditions such as autism or behavioural difficulties.
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