Class sizes may have to increase to cope with demand, the survey says

Only three councils have enough staff to enable secondary schools to take more time out of the classroom for marking, according to a survey.

The Headteachers Association of Scotland said schools had to find the hours within existing staffing levels.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities rejected the findings.

Cosla's education spokesman Councillor Rev. Ewan Aitken was said to have been "incensed" by this latest action from the association.

He was considering dropping them as advisers - a move described as "unprecedented", according to a local government source.

The McCrone agreement, reached in 2001, secured a 23% salary rise over three years for Scotland's 50,000 teachers.

The evidence is anecdotal and simply does not reflect the information we have Rev Ewan Aitken Cosla

The deal also capped teachers' working week at 35 hours and included the hiring of 3,000 more support staff to give them more time to teach.

The survey found only Glasgow, Aberdeen and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar councils had allocated sufficient staff to meet the reduction in class contact time for secondary school teachers to 22.5 hours by August.

The shortfall, according to HAS, would have to be met by increasing class sizes and using senior management and headteachers for teaching.

It raised concerns about the curriculum and absence cover and also warned the shortfall could lead to "squeezing the curriculum" or the removal of classes such as Advanced Higher.

'Inaccurate misinformation'

Schools in most Scottish local authority areas were reporting budget reductions at a time when more staff were needed to cope with demand, it said.

Councillor Rev Ewan Aitken said he was "extremely unhappy" that the association had published "unhelpful and inaccurate misinformation".

"The evidence is anecdotal and simply does not reflect the information we have on the absolute commitment from councils to reduce class contact time as agreed through the McCrone agreement," he said.

The Scottish Executive said reducing teachers' classroom hours to give them more time for lesson preparation was a key part of the agreement to which every local council was a signatory.

A spokesman added: "We have been working with councils to prepare, putting in significant funding and additional teachers to help councils meet these requirements.

"The executive is fully committed to meeting its target of 53,000 teachers and reductions in class sizes by 2007 and we have given councils sufficient funds to do so."