Protesters from as far afield as Orkney and Shetland flocked to Glasgow to join the Education Institute for Scotland’s (EIS) protest, its first in 15 years and a vivid portrayal of the anger being directed at the Holyrood and Westminster Governments as they prepare to make drastic public spending cuts.
More than 50 banners representing local branches of the EIS, threatened schools and trade unions fluttered over the half-mile long protest as it slowly walked from Kelvingrove Park to the SECC.
Teachers, parents and lecturers fear that cuts will consign workers to the dole queue and ruin the aspirations of children hoping to enter further education.
There was widespread anger that planned cuts may come shortly after the UK Government spent trillions to prop up the banks, which delegates described as “the bail-out of failed financial institutions”.
In Kelvingrove, just as the protest was setting off, EIS General Secretary Ronnie Smith stood at the head of the march. In front of him was a full pipe band and behind him a purple banner bearing the EIS’s rallying call: “Why must our children pay?”
Mr Smith said: “The number of people here today show the strength of opposition to educational cuts, amongst teachers, educational workers and parents.
“I think this is the start of a long campaign. The turn out and the range of people here show there is a broad coalition forming against the agenda of public sector cuts.”
The sheer variety of the protesters demonstrated how far-reaching the cuts could be and also how quickly anger has spread across Scotland.
Tom Mooney, a 50-year-old teacher at Toryglen Primary School, said: “Why are bankers being given million bonuses every single year whilst education is facing cuts? Teachers are the bedrock of society. We cannot let the foundations crack.”
Nicola Fisher, 38, a principal teacher of a primary school, said: “Class sizes are at their maximum, we’re seeing more and more pupils with special educational needs, children who are on the autistic spectrum or others who have English as an additional language.
“Yet we have less and less money to cater to these needs.”
Parents of children from Cuthbertson Primary School wore T-shirts with the face of former Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell alongside the words “now you know what parents went through”, a reference to the school closures Mr Purcell oversaw.
Liz McCafferty, an unemployed mother of two, said she was moved to make her protest after watching two of her children, one of whom has special educational needs, shunted from school to school after Victoria Primary was closed down.
She said: “What’s next? Schools saying that they can’t afford lightbulbs? First I was angry with Purcell, now I’m angry with the whole Government. When are they going to listen to us?”
At the end of the march, delegates spoke to a packed Clyde Auditorium. Helen Conner, President of the EIS, said: “The message is clear: the people of Scotland will not accept our children’s education being damaged in order to pay for the publicly funded bail-out of failed financial institutions.
“We must build on this strong support today and build a long-term campaign to defend Scottish education and to protect the level of funding invested in our schools, colleges and universities.
“By cutting back funding now, by seeking the cheap option to their education, the Government will damage not only our children’s futures but the future of our entire country. We simply cannot allow that to happen.”
The SNP has consistently blamed the Westminster Government for not doling out enough cash to fund Scottish education.
Mike Russell, Education Secretary, said: “So far, education has been protected by the SNP Government. We have delivered record levels of spending per pupil – at levels significantly higher than south of the border – but this will be under real threat if the Westminster parties get their way and impose savage cuts on Scotland.”
