Holyrood votes to scrap P1 tests...but defiant Swinney insists they WILL continue
JOHN Swinney yesterday said schools would continue testing primary one pupils despite opposition MSPs winning a parliamentary vote to have them scrapped.
The under-fire Education Secretary suffered a humiliating defeat as a majority of MSPs voted for standardised assessments to be axed.
MSPs then called for the Scottish Government to honour the ‘will of the parliament’ and order schools to stop testing four and five-year-olds.
But Mr Swinney only said he would ‘consider’ the result – and urged schools to continue with the tests.
As the Presiding Officer read out the result, Nicola Sturgeon also shouted ‘shame’.
Senior advisers to Mr Swinney told the Scottish Daily Mail they have recommended that he now announces a review to allow problems with the tests to be addressed.
Scottish Conservative education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘The Scottish parliament has voted decisively on this matter, and now the Government must act on that.
‘These tests need to be halted, and the evidence re-examined. The SNP is always talking about how important the Scottish parliament is and how its will must be respected. This is the perfect chance for the SNP to do just that.’
The Conservatives put forward a motion ‘calling on the Scottish Government to halt the tests in P1 and to reconsider the evidence and the whole approach to evaluating the progress of P1 pupils’. There were 63 votes backing the motion and 61 against.
Following the vote, Mr Swinney said he would ‘consider’ the outcome, adding that the Government ‘still believes assessment is an important part of the improvement agenda’.
The Education Secretary repeatedly accused the Tories of ‘playing politics with the education of our children’, pointing out that the party supported P1 assessments in its 2016 Holyrood manifesto.
Miss Smith admitted the party ‘made a mistake’ and said that evidence has been ‘piling up’ in the past two years for the tests to be scrapped.
The Scottish Government said independent experts previously recommended that more informa- tion about learning ‘outcomes’ and progress is collected.
But campaigners have warned that teachers and parents could boycott the P1 tests if they are not abolished.
Evidence published by the EIS teaching union shows that some pupils have been left in tears while taking the tests.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: ‘Teachers told this government that these tests were useless, ministers ignored them.
‘Parents told this government that they do not trust these tests, ministers ignored them. The Scottish parliament has now voted to scrap these tests and SNP ministers must not now ignore the will of parliament.
‘The Government must therefore bring forward immediate plans for how it will respond to this evening’s vote as a matter of urgency.’
Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesman Tavish Scott said: ‘A child could tell you that 63 votes is bigger than 61 but John Swinney’s stubbornness has ensured he has had to find out the
‘Must not ignore will of parliament’
hard way. As the Presiding Officer has stated, this is now the “will of the parliament”.
‘The SNP Government must now issue instructions to schools to cease these tests.’
Earlier, Allison Skerrett, of the International Council of Education Advisers, told a conference in Glasgow – attended by Mr Swinney – that the tests were not being used in a way that caused concern. Questioned on the vote, the University of Texas professor said: ‘My view is it’s early to decide that something is not working.’