Scots pupils lag behind as their reading skills falter
... but school funding ‘could become a postcode lottery’
SCOTTISH children are falling behind youngsters in the rest of the UK, with little improvement in reading standards, according to new research.
Pupils in England and Northern Ireland are ‘moving significantly ahead of Scotland in terms of literacy performance’ amid fresh concerns over the SNP’s stewardship of education.
Keith Topping, professor of education at Dundee University, analysed the performance of youngsters across the country and the improvements being made in reading.
He found that while those in Northern Ireland and England are moving ahead with literacy skills, those in Scotland and Wales are falling behind.
As a result he is calling for the Scottish Government to introduce dedicated reading time in schools and wants further research carried out to find out the reason for the dip in performance.
It is the latest blow for Nicola EDUCATION funding could become a ‘postcode lottery’ which may see deprived children missing out, say critics.
Yesterday ministers said the next wave of funding for the Scottish Attainment Challenge will see £45million given to schools during the next year.
The handout will deliver £750million in funding to nine local authorities described as ‘challenge authorities’ and an additional Sturgeon, who has claimed education is her top priority.
In recent months Scotland has slipped to its lowest global rating in reading, maths and science. With fears of a schools recruitment crisis, some authorities are considering using nursery teachers to cover primary classes.
Miss Sturgeon has launched the First Minister’s Reading Challenge as part of her bid to improve literacy standards – but Professor Topping’s research shows that further work is needed. He said: ‘It 72 schools in an attempt to tackle the country’s growing attainment gap.
Funding of between £1.5million and £7.7million will go to councils in Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Ayrshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.
Education Secretary John Swinney said the move ‘ensures local authorities and schools where the need is greatest have is something Scotland should be worrying about because Scotland has always prided itself on having an excellent education system.’
He said he could not see why literacy does not seem to be improving, adding: ‘There must be other things going on in the Scottish curriculum which are having some adverse effect.’
Earlier this year the Scottish Government was accused of ‘losing its grip’ on education after it emerged more than half of school leavers did not have key substantial additional funding for the coming year’.
But Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘While it is a welcome move in tackling the attainment gap, deprived pupils in local authorities, such as Aberdeenshire and Perth and Kinross, will not benefit from this next wave of funding.
‘It appears that a postcode lottery problem is emerging.’ maths qualifications. Theresa May said the system had become a ‘national scandal’ under the SNP’s leadership.
Yesterday Scottish Labour’s education spokesman Iain Gray said: ‘What is most damning in this report is that for all Nicola Sturgeon’s claims that education is her “defining mission,” we are trailing behind other parts of the UK in addressing the issue.’
Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘The fact Scotland is performing worse that other areas of the UK confirms the extent of the challenge that schools face under the SNP.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘As well as clarity about the standards expected in our classrooms and fully embedding literacy skills across the curriculum, we are providing £750million through the Scottish Attainment Challenge, targeted at those children and young people most in need, to close the poverty-related attainment gap.’
HOW often have we heard First Minister Nicola Sturgeon petulantly declare in Holyrood that she will ‘take no lessons’ from the Tories or, indeed, anyone else?
As yet another report highlights slipping standards in our schools, perhaps Miss Sturgeon would be better off parking the belligerence.
It is becoming increasingly clear that she and her government could benefit from a lesson or two from outwith their narrow circle of separatist zealots.
Keith Topping, professor of education at the University of Dundee, analysed the improvements being made in reading in schools across the UK.
Pupils in Northern Ireland and England are moving ahead with literacy skills while those here and in Wales are falling behind.
Shameful for a country once renowned for the quality of its education, but more significant is that the life chances of a generation of young Scots are being damaged when the basic building blocks of their schooling should be being put together.
The SNP talk endlessly of how much money they are spending on education but pupils still have precious little to show for it.
As with health, ever more lavish amounts of public money without deep and innovative reform cannot deliver the structural change that is so desperately needed.
The bitter legacy of dogmatic and unimpressive SNP education secretaries Fiona Hyslop, Mike Russell and Angela Constance means present incumbent John Swinney has a mountain to climb to improve standards.
Of the very many tasks the SNP has neglected as it pursues its reckless independence fantasy, the education of our children is among the most important.