THE Educational Institute of Scotland’s end-of-year survey of Scotland’s teachers makes for particularly grim reading.
It confirms the very worst suspicions many of us have had about the effects of cuts to benefits passed by this brutal Tory Government.
Their relentless pursuit of austerity in a bid to balance the books has a human cost far removed from the green benches of Westminster.
As parents tighten their belts the children in our schools are hungrier, weaker, more tired and suffering more than they ever have before.
More so than at any point in recent history the teachers of Scotland’s schools are being called upon to do more than merely impart knowledge. We are asking them to act as social workers and health visitors.
We’re asking them to work with children who have serious mental health problems and stress. And we’re asking them to do this and teach at the same time. This is not the Big Society David Cameron had in mind when he came into office, but it is the Big Society his Government has created – people willing to do more to fill in the holes left by his cuts.
But this isn’t just an opportunity to blame Westminster. There’s clearly a real lack of resources going into schools from local authorities and the Scottish Government. Perhaps it’s time to look at extending free school meals to all ages, all year round. Perhaps it’s time that we looked at the shortcomings of child and adolescent mental health services. Perhaps it’s time we were just a little bit more joined up.
The teachers in the EIS survey aren’t just coming from one place. This isn’t just coming from schools in areas of deprivation, it’s in schools all over Scotland.
This is a national problem and a national disgrace.
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