EIS COUNCIL
NEWS INITIAL SURVEY RESULTS BOOST EIS WORKLOAD CAMPAIGNING The March meeting of EIS Council heard the outline results of the recent EIS national members’ survey in support of the EIS Workload Campaign. General Secretary Larry Flanagan presented the initial results to Council, and commended the extremely impressive participation rate, with over 17,000 members completing the survey. Mr Flanagan highlighted that this level of engagement surpassed even the survey undertaken as part of the EIS pay campaign two years ago, making
the Workload survey the largest measure of teacher opinion in Scotland for many years.
See focus on pp8-9 of this SEJ for more on the initial results of the EIS member survey.
Mr Flanagan told Council that the results of the survey would now undergo in-depth analysis, and a series of briefings will be prepared to highlight key information in support of the workload campaign. In addition to producing a national report and briefings, local associations will also have access to regional-level data to support them in local negotiating and campaigning on workload issues.
Mr Flanagan also advised Council of the re-launch of the EIS workload calculator, as a tool to support members in keeping track of their own workload demands. School-level data would also be available to Reps, said Mr Flanagan, providing valuable information for Working Time Agreement discussions.
New EIS President and Vice-President Elected The identities of the next EIS President and Vice-President have been confirmed, following the completion of the election process.
The new President elect is Carole Thorpe, a primary teacher from Aberdeen. Ms Thorpe has been active in the EIS for over 20 years, including a term as President of Aberdeen local association. Ms Thorpe has served on EIS Council for over 10 years and served as a member of the Equality Committee for several years. Ms Thorpe served as EIS Vice-President in 2019-2020, and has been elected unopposed as EIS President for 2020-2021.
The new Vice-President elect is Heather Hughes, a secondary sciences teacher and the current Secretary of West Lothian EIS local association. Ms Hughes has been an EIS member for over 30 years, and is a long-time activist at local and national level. Ms Hughes is a current member of EIS Executive and Council, and also serves on the Employment Relations and Salaries Committees. Ms Hughes was elected unopposed as Vice-President.
Both Ms Thorpe and Ms Hughes will formally assume their new roles at the EIS AGM in June, when current President Bill Ramsay will move into the post of Ex-President.
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The Scottish Educational Journal