Timetable harmonisation plans on hold as talks continue

Scotland’s largest teaching union, the EIS, has polled its Western Isles members on the issue of harmonised school timetables and what they claim is a move to online learning as the default method of teaching.

The consultative ballot had a turnout of 74% of local members, with a resounding ‘yes’ to potential industrial action confirmed by 88% of those polled.
The EIS was responding to the Comhairle’s proposals for timetable harmonisation, as set out in an update paper for the Education, Sport and Children’s Services Committee in June.
The report included a recommendation that classes made up of fewer than four pupils would not be considered viable, stating that: “Through collaboration and digital lesson delivery, such small classes may be grouped with those in other schools to make a viable class.”
The report also set out the detail of how online classes would be supervised, stating that: “Schools will ensure that all pupils, including those working without direct supervision, have an appropriate member of staff nearby in the event of any emergency or incident, as currently happens. Any teacher delivering lessons remotely will be aware of appropriate actions to take should any concerns emerge about pupils’ welfare, as currently happens.”
The EIS consultative ballot prompted a meeting of the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers (LNCT), which took place on Thursday 16th June, and was attended by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Director of Education William MacDonald, Councillors and Union representatives. Following the meeting, the relevant papers were withdrawn from the Comhairle’s June Committee agenda pending further discussion with stakeholders.
A Comhairle spokesperson said: “The Comhairle acknowledges productive discussions with employee trade union representatives at the LNCT and have reached a consensus on key points, with the intention of providing reassurance to teachers about proposals for harmonisation of timetables in secondary schools.
“It was also agreed to establish a working group to move matters forward by mutual discussion and agreement.
“The Comhairle will continue to develop policy that we believe to be in the best interests of our learners. We reaffirm our intentions to strengthen the breadth of choice and opportunity in all our schools for learners to achieve the best possible post-school destinations and wish to do so in collaboration with all stakeholders, including our teaching staff and their trade unions.”
A spokesperson for EIS said: “Our reps have been working with the Comhairle to try and agree a joint statement which can be issued prior to the summer break. If the joint statement is agreed this would constitute a basis for pausing the dispute at the moment, pending further negotiations and agreement by the end of August.
“No statement has been agreed as yet, but we are hopeful it will be. We have offered to continue discussions over the summer in order to progress matters, but at the moment the dispute remains live.”
North Uist Councillor and Vice Chair of the Education, Sport and Children’s Services Committee Mustapha Hocine, has stated his support for the move to harmonisation: “Online learning/teaching is a fact of modern times and is here to stay and develop. It does not seek to replace but to complement face to face teaching and adds choice and wider subjects that otherwise our young people will not be able to access, putting them at a disadvantage with other learners from bigger cities. Our blended learning approach provides learners with real choice, using technology that has been tested and praised nationally.”
Cllr Hocine continued: “The aspiration for the harmonisation of timetables and maximisation of efficient learning through both face-to-face and digital teaching is to provide the broadest and most equitable choices for our young people, wherever they happen to live in the islands.”
Lewis Councillor and fellow member of the Education, Sport and Children’s Services Committee, Calum Maclean holds a different view. He told Am Pàipear: “As an ex-teacher myself, I know we need to listen to the concerns of the professionals working at the coalface. We need to hear what they say and be prepared to negotiate with them, recognising their experience and their expertise. Negotiating and not imposing. If it is the majority view of teachers that the Comhairle’s proposals are not acceptable, then we need to recognise those concerns and push them back to the Comhairle’s officers.”
“I recognise the difficulties rural schools face in recruiting teachers and delivering on timetable commitments, and indeed the value that digital opportunities can offer. But IT can never replace the value of in-person, eye-to-eye teaching and that has to be what we are working towards.”