Secondary schools in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Fife affected by further strikes

Almost all secondary schools in Tayside and Fife are affected today by further teacher strike action.

Strikes taking place are being led by the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) and NASUWT Scotland over pay.

In Dundee secondary schools are closed to all S1-3 pupils and most S4 pupils, and in Angus high schools are closed to all S1-4s.

In Fife, all secondary schools are closed for the day and in Perth and Kinross high schools are closed to S1-4 pupils – with the exception of Pitlochry High School.

SSTA’s general secretary, Seamus Searson, says around 3,500 teachers are striking across east Scotland and he believes every secondary in the country is affected by disruption due to the action.

He said: “Teachers don’t want to be on strike, we’d rather be teaching, but the problem over pay has been going on for a number of years.

“We’re losing experienced teachers at the top of the pay scale because they reach that in around five years and even after 15 years it’s the top of the scale and they can make that money elsewhere.

“At the other end, post graduate courses have only around 60% the number of target figures for teachers in training.

“We’re trying to get a pay deal that attracts new teachers and rewards them over the years.”

John Melville, NASUWT Scotland’s Fife representative, says teachers feel ‘undervalued’.

He said: “We’ve had pay rises below inflation since 2010, resulting in a real terms pay cut for 12 or 13 years. Then we were offered 5% – another real terms pay cut.

“Teachers are being asked to work harder and harder as the pay goes down.

“Not to compare to other public sectors, but it seems like others in the same position seem to be offered a resolution faster.

“It all depends if the Scottish Government values education or not.”

Today’s action follows a strike by the EIS union which resulted in the closure of all Scottish schools on Thursday, November 24.

Teaching unions are campaigning for a 10% pay offer, after rejecting an ‘insulting’ offer of 6.85%.

All teaching unions are planning more strikes in February and January.