Teachers 'morally blackmailed' over workloads - union

A teaching union says its members are being "morally blackmailed" into working up to 25 hours free overtime a week.

The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) also said the impact of council cuts to social services were being felt in schools.

It is holding a conference on the same day as the NASUWT teaching union is highlighting violence and abuse from pupils

The Scottish government said it was working to ease teachers' workloads and finalising a plan to address abuse in classrooms.

Ministers are also finalising a national action plan to address verbal and physical abuse in the classroom.

SSTA president Stuart Hunter told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme teaching was seen as a vocation rather than a profession.

He said: "We have a 35-hour working week contract but the reality is that, in order to deliver all of the demands that we need for our students, our teachers are working about 20 to 25 hours free overtime every single week.

"Part of the reason we say there is moral blackmail taking place is that often pressure is put on from a variety of different sources."

Mr Hunter said the narrative was that teachers needed to step up and support children.

He also told the programme there was a "serious lack of resources" to support teachers and expressed concern at the ripple effect from council cuts, including psychological services.

Mr Hunter added: "Teachers are being asked to step in and fill the void.

"Teachers are not trained to do this but again, teenagers are being asked to do it for the sake of the kids."

He also urged Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth to listen to the union's concerns.

Mr Hunter said: "The bottom line is that teachers are exhausted because of the amount of work they are having to do.

"The violence on top of that and the misbehaviour that teachers are having to deal with adds to the stress levels teachers are experiencing."

Mike Corbett, NASUWT national officer, said Ms Gilruth heard the concerns of the union's members at its conference last year.

But he said an action plan pledged by the government six months ago had yet to be published.

Mr Corbett said teachers across Scotland were continuing to be sworn at, hit with projectiles and assaulted on a daily basis.

He called on ministers to set boundaries and introduce "escalating consequences for serious misbehaviour".

Former teacher Jenny Gilruth was appointed Education Secretary last year

The Scottish government said it recognised the hard work of teachers and had ensured they were the "best paid in the UK".

It added more than £2m has been spent on staff wellbeing since October 2020.

A spokesperson said: "The Scottish government is working with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers on progressing the commitment to reducing class contact time and ministers are determined that planning for this is based on robust evidence.

"It is vital that school staff are able to access any wellbeing support they might need."

A behaviour action plan is due to published in the "coming weeks".

A spokesperson added: "Changes in behaviour in Scotland's schools since the pandemic are well understood.

"This is why the cabinet secretary committed to holding a series of summits focused on behaviour, convened the headteacher's taskforce and published the behaviour in Scotland's Schools research last November - culminating in the commitment to this action plan."