Currently, under the teachers agreement, also known as the McCrone deal, the profession only teaches 22.5 hours a week with the remainder for lesson preparation and marking. Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow, said if teachers spent an extra 30 minutes a week with pupils, it could save the authority 15 million a year. Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association said: "I am horrified that they are even considering it" Ronnie Smith, of the EIS, said: " Adopting a bean-counting approach will inevitably lead to a diminution of the high quality education that our young people have the right to expect."