President Address

The outgoing President of the EIS, Alison Thornton, delivered her final keynote address during the opening session of the AGM on Thursday.

In her speech, Ms Thornton looked back on the success of the Value Education, Value Teachers campaign and also looked ahead at further challenges that Scottish education must face.

Addressing delegates, Ms Thornton said, "At pay campaign meetings we had also been hearing from members of their other concerns and so the decision was taken to hold a survey of members in to gather information."

"The response from members was overwhelming. Top of the list alongside pay were workload, issues related to ASN (Additional Support Needs), lack of access to professional development and lack of career progress options."

"The fact that the pay agreement includes a commitment to take forward joint working with the aim of addressing these issues is welcome but must produce outcomes that will bring about the positive changes that teachers need."

Ms Thornton then went on to address a range of issues, including pay negotiations in the college and university sectors; professional learning; and cuts to instrumental music tuition across Scotland.