Founded in 1944, the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) is Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

's second largest teachers' union, set up to focus on secondary issues, initially as a reaction to the perception of undue influence exercised on national education issues at that time by the primary sector. The SSTA aims to:

• Advance education in Scotland
• Safeguard and promote interests of Scottish secondary teachers in all matters, especially those that affect salaries and conditions of service

To promote these aims, the Association strives to:

• Ensure that the secondary view is heard
• Formulate policies that reflect views and needs of members
• Respond to consultations on educational matters
• Represent members and their views to SED, SQA
  SQA
  SQA may refer to:* Scottish Qualifications Authority* Software Quality Assurance or Software Quality Assurance Group* SQA Services, Inc....
  
  , GTCS
  General Teaching Council for Scotland
  The General Teaching Council for Scotland is a Scottish public body. It is the professional regulatory body for teachers in Scotland....
  
  , and other national bodies such as SCRE and Learning and Teaching Scotland
  Learning and Teaching Scotland
  Learning and Teaching Scotland is a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, formed by the merger of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum and the Scottish Council for Educational Technology...
  
  
• Advise members on curricular, professional, and contractual matters
• Campaign to maintain educational standards
• Negotiate salaries and conditions of service in the SNCT
• Campaign for improvement, and against deterioration, in salaries and conditions of service

The SSTA is affiliated to the STUC and Education International

Education International

Education International is a global union federation of teachers' trade unions. Currently, it has 401 member organizations in 172 countries and territories, representing over 30 million education personnel from pre-school to university...

, and is extremely active in both organisations.