Teachers will continue to strike during exam season if the current dispute is not resolved, a union said.
Three weeks of continuous action by the union in various boroughs has reached its final day, with workers in Shetland and Inverclyde going on strike.
But more nationwide strikes are planned for later this month, followed by another program of action.
EIS Secretary General Andrea Bradley said the mandate will be in place until “more or less mid-May”.
“If there was no resolution by then, we would intend to use the full extent of the mandate to cover the exam period,” she told BBC Good Morning Scotland.
The EIS has already announced two more nationwide strike days, on February 28th and March 1st, followed by another 20 days of rolling strikes between March 13th and April 21st.
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Without an agreement, the strikes could continue into the exam phase – potentially the third time in four years that disruption has followed the impact of Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said Sunday teachers should suspend their strike action while wage negotiations continue so schools can remain open.
She called for “more compromises” but Ms Bradley said any possible resolutions by the union had been “rejected, rejected or ignored” by the Scottish Government and local government body Cosla.
“There have to be compromises on both sides,” she said.
“If the union were to receive any proposal or offer that our members could reasonably consider, we would definitely consider suspending the industrial action.
“But while there’s nothing on the table, that’s just not a realistic possibility.
“We’ve looked at about 5% since August. That’s not credible, and they know it’s not credible, but they haven’t come up with anything else that our members could realistically consider.”
The current 5% offer includes increases of up to 6.85% for the lowest paid employees.
The education secretary has previously said there will be no new salary offer and that the 10 per cent pay rise the union is asking for is unaffordable.
With the next strike dates in three weeks, Ms Bradley said: “In the meantime there is plenty of time for meaningful negotiations.
“The main thing to remember is that the salary demand for teachers has been sitting on Ministers’ and Cosla’s desks since before the exam diet last year and they have failed to reach an agreement on it,” she added.
“It is within their power and ability to do so, but they lack the political will to end this dispute and ensure that the education of children and young people is not further disrupted.”
The Education Secretary told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show that the local government agency Cosla and the unions are “a little apart”.
But she called for further talks in the coming week.
“Union colleagues have their strike mandate and I absolutely respect that,” she said.
“But what we have seen, as we have seen in other sectors, is a suspension and no further strike dates while talks continue.
“I’ve asked the unions to look into this – they have so far refused.
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