Politicians blast lack of school inspections
Several schools in Rutherglen and Cambuslang – including a secondary with more than 1100 pupils – have not received an inspection by education bosses for over a decade.
The “staggering” statistic was discovered following a Freedom of Information request to South Lanarkshire Council.
It means that some youngsters will have completed their entire primary or secondary education without their school ever being checked by watchdogs.
The five schools not inspected in the last 10 years are Cathkin, St Cadoc’s, West Coats and Loch primaries, along with Stonelaw High, which has a pupil roll of more than 1100 pupils.
It has been between five and 10 years since Hallside, Calderwood, St Anthony’s, St Columbkille’s, James Aiton, Newton Farm and St Bride’s primaries have been inspected, as well as the area’s other two secondary schools, Cathkin and Trinity.
Education Scotland switched in 2011 from a “generational cycle of inspection”, where a school is inspected every six to seven years, to a sampling model instead, which aimed to fulfil around 240 inspections per year.
The figures were blasted by James Kelly, the Labour list MSP.
He said: “It’s staggering that schools in our area have gone so long without an inspection.
“I would expect these schools to be top of the list for inspections once they resume, hopefully in August. But it’s not right for the government to simply pass the buck to local authorities. The SNP have long claimed that education is their top priority –but once again we are seeing that is not the case.”
A total of 35 schools in South
Lanarkshire have gone 10 years or more since being inspected.
Rutherglen South councillor Robert Brown fears the lack of inspections can have a negative impact on education standards.
He said: “I don’t think parents will be happy with a situation where their school has never been inspected for a decade or more. It results from a decision by the SNP Government to move from a ‘generational’ cycle of reporting on every school every six or seven years to one where they just do a sample.
“HMIE inspection is, of course, not the only way in which schools are supported in a process of improvement – but it is an important one because it is
external and independent and there is support and followup.
“I see great work being done in all our local schools but, across Scotland, we have dropped down the international rankings in the last decade or so. Good, regular independent inspection is a key part of keeping up standards.”
An Education Scotland spokesperson said: “Education Scotland has significantly strengthened its scrutiny functions and increased the number of school inspections it carries out.
“In the academic year 2018/19 Education Scotland completed 252 school inspections, an increase of over 30 per cent on the previous year.
“Schools are selected for inspection each year on a proportionate basis, using a sampling approach and predetermined set criteria rather than a cyclical approach.
“In Scotland, overall responsibility for the quality of education and securing continuous improvement sits with the local authority.
“There is a three-level approach to evaluating and improving education: schools have a responsibility to evaluate their performance; local authorities have responsibility for the quality of education in their area; and the third level is scrutiny activity carried out by HM Inspectors of Education.”