Scots Education Secretary says it is up to teaching unions to suspend strikes for exams

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scotland’s Education Secretary has said it is for teaching unions to suspend strikes ahead of the exam period to ensure there is no disruption.Teachers have been in dispute with councils and the Government in recent months, with a two-week rolling period of walkouts due to finish on Monday and more action planned.Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Shirley-Anne Somverville said the two sides were still “some way apart”, with the latest offer amounting to a 5% increase but unions asking for 10%.Strikes could continue into the exam period in the spring, which would mark the third out of the last four years to be hit with disruption after the impact of Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021.Asked if she could guarantee the exam season would not be impacted, Somerville told The Sunday Show: “I don’t think it should and I think that’s very much up to the trade unions.“One of the aspects which I’m very, very determined to ensure is that children and young people have very limited disruption to their education going forward – exams is a critical part of that.“I would hope that everyone involved in this dispute would be able to agree that we do not want to see exams disrupted.”She said the Scottish Government was working on contingency planning if the strikes impact the exam period.“I would like to think, for the benefits of children and young people and parents across the country, that it wouldn’t be too difficult for trade unions to say ‘no, we absolutely respect children’s rights to be able to carry out their exams and not have any threat hanging over them’.”Asked to give a guarantee that a contingency would be in place, the Education Secretary said: “That’s absolutely what we’re working towards to ensure that happens.“However, I would say, we