NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, has today continued to oppose and reject the acceptance of the latest below inflation pay offer from employers at a meeting of the SNCT Teachers' Panel.

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said:

“The actions of the employer throughout this process have been characterised by dither and delay - it is wholly unacceptable that a pay rise that should have been agreed for 1 April 2021 is not yet in members' pockets.

“The 0.22% added to the latest offer has already been outstripped by a 0.7% rise in the CPI inflation rate.

“Teachers, along with the wider public, are already facing a cost-of-living crisis which is only going to get worse over the coming months. The least they deserve, having worked tirelessly to keep the education system afloat during the pandemic, is a proper pay rise and not a significant real-terms pay cut.”

Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Official Scotland, said:

"67% of NASUWT members have indicated that they have seriously considered quitting the teaching profession in the last 12 months and, unless teachers get the rewards they deserve, a recruitment and retention crisis beckons.

“This will have a direct impact on the Scottish Government's aim of recruiting additional teachers which, in turn, may impact on efforts to reduce class teacher contact time: a key Scottish Government commitment to try and address spiralling teacher workload.

“A 'perfect storm' approaches and the acceptance of this pay offer and the failure to give teachers a substantial pay rise only threatens to increase the risks to teacher supply in our schools.”