Pupils pay the price

EDUCATION in Scotland is in crisis as numeracy and literacy – the foundations on which children’s future prospects and ambitions are built – slump disastrously.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was clearly aware of the gravity of the situation when she said: ‘Let me be clear – I want to be judged on this. If you are not, as First Minister, prepared to put your neck on the line on the education of our young people then what are you prepared to? It really matters.’

How hollow those words ring now. Education Secretary John Swinney admits his key proposals to lift standards in schools have been pushed back until after the local government elections in May.

It is painfully clear the SNP is still throwing all its energies into its one idea, its raison d’etre: independence.

Scotland’s children are paying a high price for this obsession as their life chances are being compromised while the SNP tries to ignore the unequivocal result of the 2014 independence referendum.

Another quote from Miss Sturgeon confirms just how blinkered she and her separatist acolytes truly are.

‘The case for full self-government ultimately transcends the issues of Brexit, of oil, of national wealth and balance sheets and of passing political fads and trends.’

In other words, Miss Sturgeon is happy to sacrifice ordinary Scots on the altar of independence. What a shameful position. IN the spirit of 2017, the RAF plans to ban women from wearing skirts on parade – partly to avoid upsetting transgender recruits! The Mail has an alternative suggestion. Why not insist all service personnel wear skirts – whether male, female or otherwise? After all, only heterosexual men would object. And in this age of insane political correctness, who cares what they think?