Scottish teachers to get two per cent payrise

Teachers in Scotland are set for a two per cent pay rise from January after an agreement was reached between unions, councils and government.

Funding of £24m from the Scottish Government will see a one per cent rise backdated to April 2017 with a further one per cent rise to follow from January.

There has also been a breakthrough agreement to return the pay of supply teachers to its equivalent on the pay grade scale to reflect the individual’s experience.

The cut to supply pay in 2012 is thought to have led to teachers leaving the profession as many saw it effectively cut in half.

Areas across Scotland are now struggling to attract teachers to jobs.

Education Secretary John Swinney praised the efforts of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), which saw unions, councils and government officials thrash out the deal.

“We recognise that teachers are the most important in-school factor in a child’s educational attainment - having the right number of teachers in schools, with the right skills, is vital to delivering our aims of excellence and equity in Scottish schools,” he said.

Teaching union the EIS said staff would welcome the agreement.

Salaries convener Helen Connor, who sits on the SNCT, said: “It has been a lengthy process to secure this agreement, and work has already begun towards the 2018 pay claim which is scheduled to be settled by April.”

“While this pay settlement does not meet our aspiration to restore teachers’ pay to pre-austerity levels, it does represent an uplift in pay that exceeds the current one per cent public sector pay cap.”

From the next academic year which starts in 2018, the Scottish Government has committed to lift the public sector pay cap, promising that those earning 30,000 or less would get a three per cent pay rise. This would effect teachers on pay grade one and two, as well as probationary teachers.