Secondary school pupils move to digital
Mel Groundsell
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s Director of Education, William MacDonald, has written to parents of secondary school pupils to set out the Authority’s plans for harmonising timetables across the Western Isles’ four secondary schools. The letter highlights changes in provision ahead of S4,S5 and S6 pupils completing their options forms for this coming academic year, stating that a broader subject choice will be facilitated by combining some subject classes across all four senior schools, with teachers delivering virtual classes through the e-Sgoil online platform for those pupils not in the room.
Mr MacDonald said: “Harmonising the senior phase will give more of our pupils the opportunity to study a wider range of subjects. This will provide a fairer and more equitable system across our schools. It will give all our students the opportunity to develop important skills for the 21st Century.”Scotland’s largest teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has slated the plans, asking parents to sign an online petition against the move: “Comhairle nan Eilean Siar are trying to use the pre-election period to implement sweeping changes to the learning and teaching practices in the authority’s secondary schools without consulting staff, parents or pupils.”
Asked about the timing of the changes, a Comhairle spokesperson said: “It is not new and is not being rapidly pushed through during the election period; it is, rather, the culmination of nearly three years work and the next step in the gradual movement towards full implementation. The timing of the current exercise is dictated by the typical secondary subject choice process that runs between February and May annually.”
The shift towards harmonised timetables and digital teaching solutions follows the findings of a 2018 report commissioned by the Comhairle, which recommended that: ‘A common approach to senior phase planning and delivery should take place across all four secondary schools with e-Sgoil playing the part of a virtual fifth establishment with staffing contributions from the other four schools…”
The Report also stated that: “Overstaffing levels in the four secondary schools are unsustainable and causing inefficient use of resources in the current financial climate and should be addressed as a priority.” This issue was also referenced by Mr MacDonald in his letter to parents, which stated: “We recognise that running classes year after year with very small numbers is financially unsustainable and cannot continue indefinitely.”
The EIS has been clear in linking the move to budget cuts, stating: “This is about cutting physical teachers in favour of online teaching: the harmonised timetable will result in staff reductions.”
The Comhairle has hit back against the accusation of cuts, stating: “Rather than cutting teacher posts, this initiative is intended to create capacity to meet learner needs and to timetable efficiently to allow us to retain teachers, not lose them, whilst responsibly managing public funds and allocated budgets.”
ESgoil’s Head Teacher, Angus Maclennan said: “If schools don’t change courses and delivery methods to cater for a post Covid age, we will have failed to capitalise on a crisis and we will still be using last century’s teaching approaches to educate future generations. By doing so, we will certainly not be preparing them for tertiary education and the world of work in a digital age.”
