A WEST FIFE teacher has hit out at proposed budget cuts, which could see the school week shortened and valuable teaching time reduced.

Speaking exclusively to the Press, the teacher said there were many colleagues in West Fife schools “not happy” about Fife Council’s plans.

Last week, the Press reported plans to increase class sizes, bump school meals to £2 and close some kitchens as just some of the measures being put forward by Fife Council as it desperately seeks to bridge a £77million funding gap over the next three years.

Among these plans is the consultation over cutting the school week, meaning that children’s teaching time would be reduced from 25 hours to 22-and-a-half, and one West Fife teacher told the Press, “There are many, many West Fife teachers out there not happy and who do not see this as a positive step.

“I know of many who are in the firing line and do not know what the future holds for them.

“I also know that at a time when we should be embracing health and wellbeing in schools we are cutting PE, art, music and drama from the primary. That means no specialist teachers. This is a policy that cannot be embracing the best needs of the child.

“I do not think parents understand this move, many just see it as a cutting of time during the week. The cuts mean no PE teachers at a time when the Scottish Government pays lip service to worrying levels of obesity and ill-health in young people, no specialist arts teachers when we talk about enhancing creativity and health and wellbeing.

“Experts say a true arts-based education for all should not be a dream. It should be a priority. So what does Fife Council choose to do but cut those specialist skills in the primary and squeeze them in the secondary?

“Most disturbing is how these cuts are portrayed to the public. I for one am waiting for an explanation as to how these cuts can mean improvement for the children of Fife.

“This is not about having a half day off, this is about a change of conditions for pupils, teachers and parents that will have an effect on a generation. Those changes fly in the face of the new Curriculum for Excellence.

"They affect primary and secondary schools and will lead to a loss of jobs for many in the profession and ultimately a narrowing of the curriculum with less choices being made available to the students.” Teachers are being backed by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), who insisted that the cuts were being driven by savings and not curricular improvement and pointed out that in local authorities which currently operate the proposed system, the introduction of such changes had caused teachers to lose their jobs.

In a statement condemning the budget proposals it said that many parents, especially those on low incomes, could face “very significant” financial pressures and the proposed increase in tuition fees for the music service would “impact most heavily” on the poorest families in the communities.

With Fife Council set to shed around 2000 jobs over the next three years and education representing 51 per cent of the budget, there are also fears that the cuts will “impact heavily” on teachers.

“Fife EIS, like other STUC-affiliated unions, are opposed to cuts: all cuts,” it continued. “Their impact is always most deeply felt by the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

“The really worrying thing is the prospect of what will happen in the 2016 and 2017 budgets. Surely the phrase, ‘calm before the storm’ has never been more appropriate.

“Fife EIS knows that, unless governments move away from the austerity agenda, there are really hard times ahead for our members and for the young people in our schools.” A series of discussion meetings with parents and teachers has been taking place over the past few weeks, with the last one due to be held this evening (Thursday) at 6.30pm at St Columba’s High School in Dunfermline.