SNP education secretary Jenny Gilruth announced plans yesterday for a new “national deal” for Scotland’s teachers that offers later starts, longer breaks, flexible working and cuts to class contact time.

Five years ago, Ms Gilruth’s party had promised teachers to cut class contact time to 21 hours by the end of the parliament, but with that deadline just six months away, Scotland’s biggest teaching union EIS says the Scottish government has “delivered absolutely nothing.”

Now, as EIS ballots its members for industrial action on that failure, the education secretary has used her address to the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland conference to announce the fresh pledges to the profession.

EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said: “A red line for teachers remains that the 1.5 hour reduction in class contact must be allocated to teachers’ preparation of learning, teaching and assessment, and teachers treated as trusted professionals to use the time as they see fit in support of young people and their learning.”