Edinburgh teachers call for extra staff and easier access to Covid testing to prevent schools meltdown

Teachers will tell city education bosses they need extra support staff, more time for assessments and easier access to Covid tests to stop schools going into meltdown.

Teachers say they are under huge extra pressure

Local leaders of the EIS teachers' union hope to have talks with the council within the next few days after members voted 91 per cent for a formal dispute over what they say is a failure to provide a safe working environment during the pandemic. Their concerns were brought to a head when the council refused their plea to switch to remote learning for the last two days of term, Monday and Tuesday next week, in a bid to prevent people having to cancel festive plans at the last minute.

Edinburgh EIS secretary Alison Murphy said teachers were under huge pressure because of the coronavirus and the resulting extra workload, lack of physical distancing and additional demands.

"People are at breaking point and some people have broken. And that's going to have a far worse effect on education in the city than a couple of days of remote learning.

"If people are in work but stressed or they become so unwell they are signed off then next term will be a nightmare – and that's our real worry, that the system goes into meltdown.”

The union has highlighted to the council several areas where it says action is needed.

Ms Murphy said: “Some things we think can be delivered very easily and there are other things that are more difficult and would require money – and we appreciate that means Edinburgh will need to speak to the Scottish Government.”

Top of the list is more staffing – an increase in the number of pupil support assistants (PSAs), who work directly with individual pupils, and increased hours for existing PSAs and other support staff. Ms Murphy said: “A lot of schools are doing staggered breaks and staggered lunches to try and reduce the amount of mixing, but they have to be supervised and there just aren't enough people to do it.”

The union also wants more supply teachers to cover both sickness absences and time needed for carrying out the assessments are replacing exams next year. “It's a massive amount of extra work,” said Ms Murphy.

“Schools need to be given ring-fenced money for supply teachers because we're worried some schools are trying to cover internally because the budgets are so tight. They need money where they can just get in the supply teachers they need and not be worried about the cost.”

“We've asked for clarification about how school staff can access asymptomatic testing. Some have managed that fine but it has not been consistent in all schools.

“And they have said no headteacher will have to do contact-tracing over Christmas, which is great but that needs to keep running. Some headteachers have spent entire weekends contact-tracing, ten or 12 hours for two days, on top of everything else they're doing.”

A council spokesman said: “We have been notified by the Edinburgh branch of the EIS of their formal dispute with the council. The health and safety of all our staff and pupils is a top priority. We will continue discussions with the EIS, staff and other unions surrounding our commitment to keep our schools as safe as possible during these challenging times.”

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