TEACHER strikes which will see pupils who attend school in Dunfermline miss out on additional school days are set to continue.

Scotland's largest teaching union has rejected the latest pay off from the Scottish Government and Cosla, saying that the six per cent hike offered was insufficient while inflation was over 10 per cent.

The EIS has planned targeted strikes in five constituencies across Scotland - including that of Dunfermline MSP and Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville - which would see schools close for an extra six days compared to other areas.

Children from the Central Fife area who attend St Columba's High School will be affected. 

The other four areas identified are: Glasgow Southside, held by Nicola Sturgeon; Perthshire North, held by John Swinney; Dumfries and Galloway, the council area of COSLA resources spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann; and East Dunbartonshire, the consistency of Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer.

READ MORE: Dunfermline pupils will miss out on more school days due to targeted strikes

Of those listed, four will be called out on three consecutive days from February 22 to February 24 and all will be affected by another three days from March 7.

Two days of national strike action have been planned for February 28 and March 1, as well as a further 20 days of rolling strikes across local authorities from March 13 until April 21.

With exams due to start in April, the renewed promise of industrial action could lead to significant disruption for senior pupils.

The fresh deal, which has come after ministers found another £156 million of taxpayers’ money to fund the pay rises, was put to teachers on Tuesday evening after being agreed at a crunch meeting of COSLA officials, the umbrella body of council officials.

They said it would represent a 11.5 per cent rise over the two years.

READ MORE: Revised pay offer for teachers following plans for targeted strikes in Dunfermline

On Wednesday, the EIS union’s salaries committee met, which rejected the offer, before a special meeting of the union’s executive committee made its decision to continue the strike campaign.

General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: “This is another inadequate offer to Scotland’s teachers, which was unanimously rejected by the EIS Salaries Committee earlier today. 

"The six per cent value of the offer for 2022-23 is insufficient, with CPI inflation currently sitting today at 10.5 per cent.

"The six per cent offer for this year is only one per cent less of a pay cut than that previously offered, twice, by the Scottish Government and COSLA. 

"Teachers have already lost more than one per cent of their salaries through being forced into strike action so, essentially, teachers already more than paid for this revised offer themselves."

She also said it was wrong for the government to make an offer for next year without first gong through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers.

"In attempting to tag on next year’s pay settlement, without any negotiation at all, the Scottish Government and COSLA are attempting to tie the hands not just of teacher trade unions but all public sector unions – and this is unacceptable to the EIS," she said.

Ms Bradley added: "As a result of the clear decision to reject this offer, taken by our Salaries Committee today, our Executive Committee has also unanimously agreed that the current programme of strike action will continue as scheduled. 

"The EIS remains, as ever, willing and available to engage in further discussions with both the Scottish Government and COSLA, through the appropriate forum within the SNCT, to attempt to reach a resolution to this dispute."

READ MORE: Striking teachers reveal true story of life inside West Fife's classrooms

Patrick Roach, general secretary of NASUWT, said it would consider the offer but warned it was “substantially adrift from a real terms pay award and does not offer the package of pay restoration that our members would expect”.

But Ms Somerville said it was a "fair offer" which would have "meant a salary rise of 11.5 per cent for most teachers in April, with a cumulative rise of almost 30 per cent since January 2018."

"We looked for compromise – as we were asked to do – and dug deep under very challenging financial circumstances to arrive at a deal that is affordable and sustainable,” she said.

"I urge the unions to continue discussions with the Scottish Government and Cosla so this dispute can be resolved as soon as possible.

"I appeal, again, for unions to suspend planned strike action while talks are ongoing to avoid further disruption to our children and young people’s education."

Michael Marra, Scottish Labour’s education spokesman, called for the speed of talks to be increased.

"We cannot afford more disruption in our schools with the exam season approaching and our young people already suffering from huge loss of learning through the pandemic years," he said.

"The SNP must now seek to move to rolling negotiation. We waited three months for this latest offer to be made.

"Ministers must be back at the table this week with councils and unions to strike a deal."

And Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: "To get Scottish education back on track, we need to get the basics right.

"That means boosting pay and conditions for staff, permanent contracts, creating more time for lesson planning and cutting class sizes so that pupils get the support they deserve."