Teachers consider strike in West Dunbartonshire over council cuts

Secondary teachers in West Dunbartonshire are voting on whether to strike over proposals to restructure management positions at the council’s schools.

The ballot is taking place after 87.5 per cent of teaching union EIS rejected the council’s proposals in an initial ballot, which indicates a strike is likely.

West Dunbartonshire council proposes to replace principal teachers in key subjects with faculty heads, a move which has been introduced in schools in other parts of Scotland.

Under the West Dunbartonshire proposals pastoral care staff are to be cut, and PE and Home Economics will be merged under one faculty, Music and Art in another and English and Languages in another.

The EIS says faculty leaders under the system work over 70 hours a week, and subject teachers have to spend more time supporting the faculty leader and managing their own subject.

If passed, it will be the first time EIS teachers have taken industrial action since 1986.

In a statement, Michael Dolan and Jim Halfpenny of West Dunbartonshire EIS said: “In this time of curricular change it is essential that this expert knowledge is not lost and devolved to a Curriculum Leader who cannot advise staff in a subject where he/she does not have this knowledge or experience.”

The council has said the new secondary school structure will replicate a model already adopted by other councils in Scotland.

West Dunbartonshire is considering several cuts to education services, including proposals to merge three primary schools, the next phase of which is to be revealed two days before Christmas.