NASUWT teachers to strike in East Dunbartonshire

Teachers at three schools in East Dunbartonshire are to take strike action next week over levels of bureaucracy set by school management.

Members of the NASUWT union at Kirkintilloch High School, Lenzie Academy and Bearsden Academy say they are being overworked and it is having an impact on the quality of teaching.

The local authority has said it is taking legal advice on the matter.

The union's General Secretary Chris Keates said: "Strike action could have been avoided if the council had agreed, for example, to our proposals to make sure the recommendations from the national working group on tackling bureaucracy are being implemented in schools.

"Or to ensure that teachers are not burdened with clerical and administrative tasks which are diverting them from teaching, or to stop the excessive amount of cover teachers are being asked to do.

"Other employers should take note. Teachers' patience and goodwill is exhausted."

East Dunbartonshire Council denied it had refused to discuss the issue with the teachers involved.

Chief education officer Jacqui MacDonald said: "East Dunbartonshire Council regrets the decision of the NASUWT to take strike action in three of our secondary schools.

"The council has made positive steps through collegiate working with the teacher trades unions to address issues in relation to workload and tackling bureaucracy."

Head teachers at the three schools are assessing the impact for pupils, she added.

Members of Scotland's other teaching unions the EIS and SSTA are not expected to be involved in the dispute.