PROPOSALS to change staffing in secondary schools would increase the workload of every teacher in the Kingdom, an education union has warned.

As reported previously in the Press, Fife Council has put forward plans for £1.1 million of cuts across 18 secondaries.

EIS Fife is concerned that the proposals – which are currently under consultation – will mean staff doing extra work for no extra money.

It also says the "viability and integrity" of many subjects could be threatened.

A statement by the union said: "The proposal threatens to make the behaviour management issues, already at near crisis point in some Fife secondary schools, even worse.

"At a time when the local media is reporting a near doubling of stress-related absence amongst Fife teachers, this proposal, if implemented, will only make things worse.

"For those young teachers who have survived the workload, the behaviour issues, the stress and the morale-sapping issue of teachers’ pay, the proposal will inevitably restrict severely their opportunities for any hope of promotion or development.

"We know Hallowe'en is just around the corner but surely this is a guise too far from the education service?"

Union representatives will be continuing to seek the views of members over the coming weeks.

The statement added: "Let us not forget that in another Scottish local authority, EIS members successfully overturned a very similar, unacceptable cut by taking industrial action."

Fife Council education chief Shelagh McLean said they were currently in the middle of a consultation process.

"All of the concerns raised here, along with all the other representations both at a school and Fife level, will be discussed, considered and responded to appropriately," she said. 

"It is critical to understand that some schools are getting an increase in funds because we are redistributing our staffing budget to create a fairer, clearer and more equitable formula, where resources are allocated based on the most up-to-date school roll data.

"The anxieties raised by the EIS around roles and structures will form part of the discussions we are having with the trade unions, staff and individual teachers. 

"Where there is a proposed change to any specific remit, there is a process, agreed with the trade unions, for matching individual teachers to posts and any increase in responsibility is likely to lead to a job-sizing review and the relevant reassessment of the salary."