Angus teachers are being paid to go on organised “life enhancing” activities next week, such as going go-karting, visiting the cinema or even taking drives or walks in the countryside with colleagues during school hours.
The Work/Life Balance Day takes place a week on May 27 and is part of the latest in-service day which would normally see teachers attend school for training but pupils having the day off.
However, that Friday’s schedule is made up of a morning-only training session and teachers will then be free to pursue their chosen activities in the afternoon.
An outraged parent, who asked not to be named, contacted The Courier to complain about what he sees as a “gross misuse of taxpayers’ money.”
“I think this is ridiculous (that) at a time when there are more in-service days than ever they should be allowed to leave school to go on organised jaunts like this,” he said.
“I know they have to pay for the activities themselves but they’re still doing it in work time and still getting their salaries.’Nonsense'”I also know some teachers who think the whole idea is a nonsense and they’d rather actually be in school marking exams or doing reports, instead of having to take them home to do.
“When you think that Angus Council raised such a stink last year about people going home early from an in-service day because there was a blizzard, it’s incredible they allow teachers to take the afternoon off to have a fun day out.”
A spokesman for Angus Council confirmed schools across the region would have two in-service days at the end of the month.
A statement read, “There are in-service days scheduled for staff at our schools on Friday 27 and Monday, May 30. On Friday 27, staff will be considering improvement plans for their individual schools and looking at different aspects of curriculum activity.
“Each school’s programme for the day will be slightly different and may include a variety of team-building and development opportunities and enable cross-curricular working.
“Monday, May 30, will be devoted to discussion on matters relating to the Curriculum for Excellence.”