A union leader has criticised the “bureaucracy” of the Scottish Government after it was revealed teachers in Dundee are still waiting on a £400 payment promised for the extra workload of this year’s pupil assessments.
In February the Scottish Government announced a one off payment of £400 for teachers and lecturers involved in awarding national qualifications this year.
They payment was designed to recognise the “additional workload” related to the alternative certification model, which involved assessments being set, marked and moderated by teachers rather than the SQA.
Despite the fee being announced eight months ago, teachers in Dundee are yet to see it in their pay packet.
Teachers in other council areas, including Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife, have already received their payment.
Dundee EIS secretary David Baxter said: “We’re not that impressed by the Scottish Government. There’s a lot of teachers thinking why are we not getting paid (this fee).
“Everything has been done on time and in good faith and red tape essentially holds up these payments but why is that?”
“The criticism lies with the bureaucracy of the Scottish Government for holding this money up.”
“Lack of communication from government”
The deadline for applications for the payment was September 30 and it’s understood Dundee City Council submitted theirs on time.
David said: “It’s frustrating because there are a lot of disappointed teachers who got promises from the Scottish Government.
“I think the difficulty is the lack of communication from the government. Why have other council areas got their money before?”
Michael Marra, MSP for the North East Scotland constituency, was also critical of the payment delay, labelling it “completely unacceptable”.
He said: “I can see no good reason why it has taken months to make the long-promised payment.
“Teachers bailed out the shambolic SQA last year and worked incredibly hard to deliver a system of qualifications for our young people.
“They did so in the most challenging of personal circumstances. The sum of cash promised does not touch the sides of the real effort put in.”
Teachers will be paid “as soon as possible”
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “It is the intention to pay the £400 to teachers as soon as possible and we are currently talking to Scottish Government about this.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “Officials are working to process and finalise funding letters as quickly as possible for claims for the £400 additional payment to teachers.
“We are aware that some local authorities have decided to make these payments to their teachers prior to receiving the payment from Scottish Government, while others are awaiting the funds before doing so.”
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