TEACHERS' leaders have accused Scotland's Education Secretary Angela Constance of a "lack of respect" for the profession.

The claim from the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) comes after Ms Constance rejected calls for a delay to the national roll-out of a flagship exam.

The Education Secretary said she had not yet heard a "compelling case" for existing Advanced Highers to be run for an extra year alongside the new qualifications, which are part of the roll-out of the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

Her comments came despite widespread fears from parents and teachers that some schools would find the transition too difficult to manage in one year.

Seamus Searson, general secretary of the SSTA, said: "We continue to be alarmed by the lack of respect for teachers' professional judgement shown by Angela Constance in refusing to sanction a dual running of the Advanced Highers in 2015/16.

"Throughout the implementation of CfE the SSTA has attempted to signal real concerns about progress, but the overriding concern of SSTA members is this will adversely impact on our young people.

"We have been careful about appearing alarmist and at all times wished to contribute positively to its successful implementation. There is still time to achieve this and it is for that reason we insist the Cabinet Secretary listens to the voice of the professionals in our schools."

However, the Scottish Government refuted the suggestions and argued there was no need for the option of a delay.

A spokesman said: "The new Advanced Higher qualifications will be available from this academic year 2015-16, in line with the long-standing timetable agreed by the CfE Management Board. This is an important development for learners at that stage of their school education in Scotland.

"As the highest level qualification taken in Scottish schools, Advanced Higher has always emphasised independent learning, with a substantially smaller taught component than for other qualifications.

"It is also generally taken by a relatively small number of learners so there is no reason to expect that the introduction of new Advanced Highers should create unmanageable extra pressures on teachers next year."

Last week, Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), told MSPs on Holyrood's education committee that teachers were struggling with CfE reforms.

He said there was no evidence workload pressures of last year had abated and said the consequence of forcing schools to run the new Advanced Higher would be

that schools would simply drop them.

In addition to workload pressures, concerns also centre on the fact the new Advanced Highers are not designed to follow on from older Highers, which nearly half of pupils will sit this summer.

Opposition politicians backed the call from Mr Flanagan, with Mary Scanlon, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservative Party, highlighting the fact the Scottish Government allowed schools to delay the introduction of new Highers last summer.