School plan means more centralisation

South Lanarkshire Council seem likely to take part in an a joint arrangement with other councils in the West of Scotland with a view to sharing best practice in schools across the area.

The move has come as part of a response by Scottish councils to the SNP government’s proposals for a compulsory government-led education regional improvement collaborative.

The matter led to a heated debate at the council’s executive committee last Wednesday which resulted in the council’s partnership initiative being approved in principle subject to the details being further developed.

The Scottish Government has come in for a lot of stick because of difficulties in education performance with Scotland slipping down international league tables since the SNP came to power.

Most schools do a great job but have been held back because of a drop in teachers numbers of 4,000 since 2007 and a fall too in support staff, all of which makes the job of schools more difficult.

The SNP’s answer appears to be fiddling about with the structures and handing increased power to Scottish ministers in Edinburgh.

This proposed regional collaborative in education follows on the unsatisfactory centralisation of the police and emergency services.

In my view, it is a threat to local democracy and will divert attention away from the real challenges in the schools.

It is almost always a bad thing when ministers in Edinburgh try to micro manage everything centrally.

Everyone wants to see our schools thrive and give the best start in life possible to our young people.

Sharing best practice locally is a good thing – but having the Scottish Government doing a power grab would be a terrible mistake.

I hope John Swinney and the SNP government will back down and accept the approach being pioneered by the local councils. Councillor Robert Brown Rutherglen South