Safety of Scottish teachers is a 'ticking time bomb', union leader warns

Delivering his final speech as president of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Adam Sutcliffe told the union’s AGM in Dundee that “our employers and the Government are not yet up to the task of protecting us”.

Mr Sutcliffe called on local authority employers and the Scottish Government to ensure schools are safe places in which to work and to learn.

He said: “Health and safety is the ticking time-bomb in Scottish education that is just waiting to go boom.

“The level of violence, aggression, misogyny, bullying, sexism, ablism, homophobia, transphobia and racism that teachers and lecturers are having to deal with on a daily basis is completely and utterly intolerable.

“Our employers and the Government are not yet up to the task of protecting us. We have a legislative right to work in an environment that keeps us safe.

“Members in a school I recently visited told me that levels of violence and abuse that were considered unacceptable only five years ago are being routinely ignored in order to be able to simply carry on with the day.”

READ MORE: Violent incidents in schools ‘more than double’ under SNP

The number of problem incidents in schools has rocketed in recent years

Violent incidents more than doubled since 2021, according to figures released by Scottish Labour in March.

Since 2021-22, the number of violent incidents recorded in secondary schools rose by 182% from 2,413 to 6,809.

Meanwhile, violence in primary schools surged by 113% over the same period, from 12,075 to 25,770.

Officials have been working for the past two years with teaching unions and Cosla to implement an action plan on relationships and behaviour to address the challenge. This week, the Scottish Goverment announced that new laws would be brought in to ban mobile phones from the classroom.

READ MORE: What can victims of school violence do?

Meanwhile, Mr Sutcliffe offered “solidarity” with City of Glasgow College, where welding lecturers are currently on strike due to claims of inadequate health and safety precautions to protect staff and students from hazardous fumes and dust.

He said: “I want to give a message of solidarity to our eight welders at City of Glasgow College, who in the face of utterly disgraceful intransigence by their employer are still on strike simply to demand the RPE (respiratory protective equipment) that they require to keep them safe at work.

“It is important that City of Glasgow College hears our message that the EIS is behind our welders all the way.”

Addressing newly-appointed Education Secretary Mairi McAllan, Mr Sutcliffe called on the Government to raise taxes from the “extremely wealthy” to contribute to a “quality education system”.

READ MORE: ‘It is breaking my heart’ - Parents anguish at rising levels of school violence

He said: “Mairi, for this electoral campaign we provided you with a costed manifesto for quality education.

“This Government needs to use its tax-raising powers to inspire the extremely wealthy to stop avoiding or evading and start contributing more… to create a fairer, more equal society and to contribute to a quality education system that really does enable those within it to become successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.”

Education Secretary Mairi McAllan said: “There is no place for violence in Scotland’s schools. Our classrooms should be safe and positive learning environments.

“To support improved behaviour, I announced measures this week to ensure school learning environments across Scotland can be phone-free.

“We are implementing a relationships and behaviour in schools action plan, developed with EIS, local authorities and other organisations. Guidance on consequences, also developed with EIS, was published last year alongside risk assessments for violence, aggressive and dangerous behaviour.

“Operational matters are the responsibility of individual colleges. We expect them to have robust policies to create a safe environment for learners and staff.”