Smith: Teaching time debate shows there are tough choices ahead thanks to Labour’s debt legacy

Reports today state that the leader of Glasgow City Council is writing to the Education Secretary, asking him to reopen the 2001 McCrone deal that guaranteed teachers more than 12 hours a week to spend marking and preparing lessons in school, rather than teaching.

He argues that increasing teaching time by 30 minutes a day will save money and prevent cuts to frontline education services in the city.

Liz Smith MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning, says:

"Every school is different and that is why we have always called for headteachers to have far greater power over how their school is run. Maybe some teachers will need to spend longer in the classroom, maybe some others won't. The point is that a blanket approach affecting all schools has never been in the interest of parents, pupils or the teachers themselves.

"It is clear however that the dreadful consequences of Labour's debt legacy mean there are tough choices ahead. We all need to work together to weather ourselves through this storm created by Labour."

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