Letter: Supply pressure

After attending an Educational Institute of Scotland meeting last week urging acceptance of the latest pay and conditions deal, I was encouraged by Hugh Reilly's opposition to it (Perspective, 12 April).

I am a short-term supply teacher employed in Midlothian primary schools. I have decades of teaching experience in mainstream and special education, in which I have an additional qualification. Many of us are older, more experienced teachers. All of us are required during winter and spring terms but work is not guaranteed the rest of the year, making it an unsuitable job for a young teacher dependent on regular income.

It goes without saying that few of us will be willing to accept a pay cut which, for those at the top of the pay scale, will amount to 35 per cent. Consequently, many of us will simply remove our names from the supply lists. In short, we will "sack ourselves".

In Midlothian there seems to be very little opposition to these worrying proposals, therefore I wish my colleagues in Glasgow every success and wholeheartedly support them.

Rona Bird

Crichton Village

Pathhead, Midlothian