Teachers set to launch education manifesto

A TEACHING union has said it will fight the "continuing decimation" of Scottish education as it prepares to launch its own manifesto.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) will publish its 'Manifesto for Education' next month ahead of May's Scottish Parliament elections to ensure that the issue is at the top of the agenda for all the country's political parties.

The union will campaign for a better deal for education which it says has suffered through "significant cuts" to school budgets.

EIS general secretary Ronnie Smith warned that pupils would suffer most as a result of "damaging cutbacks" which have led to thousands fewer teachers, larger class sizes, scarcer resources for schools and little opportunity for teachers to undergo professional development.

The union said that it was making a stand for Scottish education in order to protect the country's schools, colleges and universities.

Mr Smith said: "With the current financial crisis and the deep cuts to public spending, including reduced investment in education, it is vitally important that we make a stand to let the politicians know that continuing attacks on our education system cannot and will not be tolerated by the Scottish people.

"Education is vital to the future success of the country, and only by continuing to invest in our young people by providing the best educational opportunities can we secure Scotland's future prosperity in an increasingly competitive global economy."

He added: "We will not allow the continuing decimation of Scottish education in order to pay the bill for a publicly funded bail-out of banks that was necessitated by the greed and dubious ethical standards of city traders and financial speculators."

He highlighted that colleges and universities have also seen "very large" cuts to their budgets, with the result that courses and lecturing jobs are under threat..