A Scottish teachers’ union will ballot its members for industrial action in an ongoing row over class contact time.
The NASUWT union says that the Scottish Government has failed to make ‘significant progress’ towards reducing maximum class contact time from 22.5 to 21 hours per week.
The ballot will open in mid-November.
Matt Wrack, NASUWT General Secretary, said teachers’ workloads have increased since the last Holyrood election; despite the pledge comprising part of the SNP’s election manifesto in 2021.
Wrack said: “We have exhausted all avenues to try to get the Government and COSLA to agree to concrete measures to achieve this commitment, but it is now evident that the promise to the profession is not going to be met during this Parliament.
“Where ministers and employers continue to fail our teachers, we will stand up for their right to working conditions which would enable them to deliver the highest quality of learning for our children and young people.”
A ballot by the EIS teachers’ union has also been launched as a result of the class contact time issue.
That ballot will open on 12 November and is expected to run until 14 January.
Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Official for Scotland, said that the government had committed to reducing class contact time.
He said: “This was a recognition by the Scottish Government that additional time away from the classroom was necessary to give teachers sufficient time and space to plan, prepare and assess pupils’ work in order to help students achieve their best and raise attainment.
“Since 2024 we’ve had agreements to work ‘at pace’ and the establishment of working groups by the Scottish Government and COSLA to make meaningful progress on class contact time reduction.
“But the reality is that teachers today are arguably worse off in terms of their workloads and working hours than they were in 2021 when this commitment was first made.”
Corbett went on to say: “A reduction in class contact time is as needed now, if not more so, than in 2021.
"It is regrettable that we have been forced to declare a trade dispute and move to a ballot in order to try to force the government to give teachers the working conditions it itself acknowledges they require to do the job effectively.”
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On Sunday, a Scottish Government spokesperson told The Herald that they are “committed to working with teaching unions and COSLA to agree our approach to delivering a reduction in class contact time at pace.”
They added: “Ministers respect union members’ right to withdraw their labour, but are disappointed that [unions have] taken this action while these constructive discussions are ongoing.
“The number of teachers in Scotland's classrooms has increased by more than 2,500 over the past decade, with Scotland having the highest level of spending per pupil in the UK, as a result of investment by this Government."
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