Nicola:I’ll improve education but take no lessons from Tories
Fair enough, Nicola, but how about from education professionals who have asked you to help our kids?
First Minister hits back after damning school literacy report and vows: ‘We will take action’
STUBBORN Nicola Sturgeon declared yesterday that she would “take no lessons” from Tories after they savaged her record on education.
The SNP leader endured a tough 10 minutes at First Minister’s Questions – days after a damning report showed less than half of S2 pupils write well.
Student teachers also revealed many of them lack the basic maths skills needed to teach P7 pupils.
At Holyrood, Sturgeon insisted the Scottish Government had made “good progress”. But Ruth Davidson said Sturgeon should feel “embarrassed and ashamed”.
The Scottish Tories’ leader said: “Today in Scotland, in an S2 class of 30 pupils, on average five can’t write properly. That’s double the number just four years ago.
“When the First Minister sees statistics like these, does she feel embarrassed, ashamed or both?”
She added: “We liked to pride ourselves in Scotland that our education system was the best in the world. After 10 years of this SNP Government, we can do so no longer.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie added that parents are worried their children will become a “lost generation”.
Sturgeon replied: “What I feel is utterly determined to carry on with the changes we’re making in Scottish education so that we continue to see the improvements in attainment and progress in closing the attainment gap.”
She astonished opponents by claiming Tories only focused on education to deflect focus away from the damage of leaving the EU.
Sturgeon said: “I’ll get on with the job of improving education but I’ll take no lessons on priorities from Ruth Davidson or the Tories.”
The First Minister later added: “We’ve got good performance across education in Scotland but there are areas where we have recognised that we need to do better and this government is getting on with the job of taking the action that will deliver these improvements.”
The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy, published on Tuesday, revealed 49 per cent of S2 pupils performed “well or very well” in writing last year – down from 64 per cent in 2012.
The report also revealed there has been no progress since 2014 in tackling the attainment gap, which describes the difference in qualifications between the most and least deprived areas.
Sturgeon made education her overriding priority shortly after becoming First Minister.
This week, a Holyrood committee heard devastating claims about insufficient teacher training.
One final year student said literacy training was valuable in first year – but was just “reiterated” in the years that followed.
On numeracy, the student said: “I do not believe that everyone graduating from Moray House this year has the sufficient skills in numeracy to be able to teach it to 11-year-olds at a reasonable standard.”
Does the First Minister feel embarrassed, ashamed or both? RUTH DAVIDSON