Scotland’s biggest teaching union has said that post-Covid support for schools has been “wholly insufficient” as it urges the Scottish Government and local authorities to increase investment.

In an exclusive article for The Herald, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley says that while schools were promised “additional funding, staffing and resources to aid educational recovery,” the sector has instead been subject to “inadequate funding, reductions in staffing, and a scarcity of the resources needed to support all young people, including those from less affluent backgrounds and the growing number with additional support needs”

Writing as part of our coverage of 2024 exam results, Ms Bradley argues that despite the “colossal commitment and effort” of teachers, “the impact of the Covid pandemic on young people’s learning experience was profound, and the consequences continue to impact on young people today.”

She adds that young people from deprived backgrounds have been disproportionately affected, “with serious consequences for educational equity and the drive to tackle the attainment gap which, as we saw this week, continues to persist and actually grew based on this year’s SQA results.” When exam results were released on Tuesday of last week, The Herald reported that pass rates had fallen, and attainment gaps had increased, in comparison to figures from the pre-pandemic era.

Ms Bradley draws particular attention to the effects of the loss of a proper primary to secondary school transition for those young people who have recently completed S4, which she argues have a severe negative impact at an “absolutely critical” time for young people and their teachers.

The impact of the switch to remote learning is also highlighted by the union, which says that its members “highlighted, at an early stage, significant levels of non-engagement, particularly amongst children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.” This was, Ms Bradley argues, “in large part, this was due to digital poverty, where many households had limited or no connectivity and lack of access to devices.”

This EIS also points to an “alarming” fall in school attendance levels in recent years, “a trend which is more pronounced among children and young people from poorer economic backgrounds and those with additional support needs.” Ms Bradley explains that members report increased numbers of pupils suffering from mental health problems for which they are unable to obtain adequate support.

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Ultimately, she argues that the Scottish education system requires “significantly greater investment and a renewed commitment from the Scottish Government and local authorities to support schools in getting it right for every young person.” Failure to achieve this, she adds, will result in the country paying “a very high price” for its underinvestment in public services.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said that they are "already investing record levels in the education system, with the Education and Skills budget growing to over £4.8 billion for 2024-25, despite facing the most difficult financial circumstances since devolution."

“Any calls for additional investment must be seen in the context of the wider constraints on public finances.  However, if a net increase in consequentials is forthcoming as a result of changes in schools spending by the UK Government, we would seek to make that available to improve education outcomes in Scotland.  Scottish Government officials are liaising with UK counterparts to seek clarity on the overall funding position.

“We are also offering local authorities £145.5 million this year to protect teacher numbers, supporting children and young people’s education.

“Spending on additional support for learning reached a record high of £926 million in the latest available figures [2022-23] to help address growing demand in this area.

“At least 280,000 devices have been distributed to young people across Scotland according to the latest available figures.”