TEACHERS have called for traditional school inspections to be scrapped.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) teaching union said the current regime did not help schools improve and could be negative and stressful for staff.

Instead, the EIS wants to see inspection body Education Scotland spend its time supporting schools to get better.

The call came in a written submission to the Scottish Parliament’s education committee, which is scrutinising the role of Education Scotland.

The submission said: “The EIS would suggest inspection statistics might suggest the need for a more strongly supportive approach and possibly the abandonment of formal inspection altogether in favour of a model designed solely to provide support to teachers and educational establishments.

“While some EIS representatives in schools report that members find the inspection process supportive, significant numbers express negative views.

“These centre on the damage done to staff morale by the manner in which the process is conducted, the excessive workload and stress that inspection can generate, poor quality of professional dialogue with inspectors, sometimes confusing and contradictory feedback, and the questionable utility of the process and findings in genuinely supporting improvement.”

The EIS also said there was no right of redress for schools or teachers who felt aggrieved by inspection reports.

Gayle Gorman, the new chief inspector of schools, will give evidence to the committee on the future role of the body next week.