EDUCATIONAL Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Larry Flanagan called on the country’s Education Secretary John Swinney to “invest in the profession” during his speech to conference delegates yesterday.

Mr Flanagan also cautioned Mr Swinney, who will address the EIS conference today, against pursuing a Tory agenda in the education system.

Warning against any reorganisation, he said: “We don’t need a political sideshow when we have major issues to address.”

Mr Flanagan also urged people not to be fooled by the Scottish Tories’ attempt to distance themselves from their party’s legacy, saying: “Scottish Conservative education policy is founded on the same approach as UK Tory policy and it should be roundly rejected.”

As parties seek headlines by pledging to close the attainment gap, Mr Flanagan argued that “the attainment gap is there because of the poverty that exists outside the school gates.”

Mr Flanagan attacked Chancellor George Osborne’s austerity agenda and benefit sanctions in particular, calling them drivers of the achievement gap between wealthy and poor students.

According to research by the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy, the 1 per cent drop in numeracy attainment this year was “almost wholly located in the 30 per cent of pupils from the most deprived backgrounds.”

However, Mr Flanagan stressed that “poverty is not destiny” and that schools can and do make a difference.

He called for a “big push for the turnout” as the secondary school teachers’ ballot for industrial action over excessive workloads enters its final week.

EIS also reported a net membership growth of just under 600 in the last year, which Mr Flanagan said was “significant” at a time of growing teacher shortages and cuts in further education.