Teaching unions to escalate industrial action over Curriculum for Excellence workload

Teaching unions are to step up industrial action over workload pressures associated with Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) has said it will instruct members to refuse to comply with assessment and reporting work on CfE qualifications.

The move follows the announcement by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) that its members would be balloted on industrial action over the qualifications, expressing disappointment in the recommendations of a Scottish Government working group on workload issues.

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NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said the recommendations were being ignored by employers and schools. Teachers, she said, were “exhausted and disillusioned” and considering leaving the profession.

“Excessive workload is blighting teachers' professional lives and affecting their health and wellbeing, yet the government and employers are failing to act.

“The reforms to the curriculum and qualifications systems have simply piled on the pressure,” she said.

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said the recommendations fell “far short” of what the union would find acceptable.

“While some positive changes have been agreed by the group, the EIS believes that the final recommendations will not deliver the reduction in workload - particularly the workload associated with the marking of unit assessments - that our members are demanding," he said.

The Scottish Government said the decision was “disappointing” and work on planning and assessment would continue.