Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Teacher strike shuts the doors at all Highland schools

Highland Council schools are looking at another day without classes as teachers continue their strikes over pay. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson
Highland Council schools are looking at another day without classes as teachers continue their strikes over pay. Image: Sandy McCook/DC Thomson

Highland Council has announced that all schools, nurseries and special schools will close during a teacher strike next week.

This will be the third time this school year that Highland schools have had to close due to ongoing dispute between unions, local authorities and the Scottish Government over teacher pay. Schools and nurseries across the region will be closed on Tuesday January 31.

The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is demanding a 10% pay rise at all levels. Negotiations have stalled since the most recent government offer, which promised a gradated pay rise according to experience. The government’s offer is capped at 6.85%, for the lowest earners.

EIS members rejected this pay offer on November 23 2022. There has not been a new offer, despite repeated negotiations.

More disruptions likely in the coming weeks

The EIS is planning two more phases of strike action in February and March. First, there will be two days of nationwide strikes on February 28 and March 1.

These will mark the start of another 20 days of rolling strike action, with members in each local authority going out on strike on different days. The EIS has not announced the strike schedule yet to say when it will call out Highland Council members, but it is likely that schools will close when they do.

Next week’s strike day marks the third time that EIS has called out its members.

On November 24, EIS called for a nationwide walkout which triggered school closures across the country. The Association of Head Teachers and Deputes Scotland (ADHS) joined in on the day. It was the biggest industrial action over teacher pay since the 1980s.

Then on January 10 and 11, EIS called out all primary and secondary teachers on consecutive days. This triggered some controversy among parents at special schools. They questioned why their students were forced to miss two days instead of just one.

EIS membership is widespread, including more than 55,000 teachers and approximately 80% of Scotland’s teacher workforce. Due to the union’s size, Highland Council has been forced to close all schools each time EIS members have gone on strike.

If the pattern holds, parents across the Highlands can expect at least three more days of closures before the end of March.

For all of the latest on how strikes will impact schools in your area, check our teacher strike page for regular updates.

Read more from the Schools and Family team

School closures: How do councils decide which schools to shut?

Highland communities say they’ll fight ‘tooth and nail’ for school funding – but does this problem go beyond just the north?

What to do when schools close unexpectedly

Conversation