Scrapped at last

THE cancellation of the Named Person scheme (Mail) reminded me of my own experiences in schools.

Didn’t the Scottish Government realise that caring for young children has always been a concern of their teachers?

When I was a young and very new, green teacher 60 years ago in a rather poor area, I was taken aside by my headmistress.

She told me that there was a possibility that there might be children in the class who were not well looked after at home.

‘If you see five finger-mark bruises anywhere or bruises which have been covered over with makeup, then that is a bad sign,’ she told me. ‘Let the headmaster know and he will alert the authorities.’

MURIEL THOMPSON, Greenock, Renfrewshire.

THE SNP has now admitted that its Named Person scheme is totally unworkable and has dumped the legislation in a most embarrassing and humiliating manner.

I can’t help but wonder, though, how much taxpayers’ money in Scotland has been spent in supporting this ridiculous scheme that was rejected by the professionals as unworkable from its inception?

DENNIS FORBES GRATTAN, Aberdeen.

FINALLY, after some six years, John Swinney has raised the white flag over his ill-fated Named Person legislation. Why did it linger so long before being abandoned?

Presumably, as confidentiality cannot be guaranteed, local authorities who introduced pilot schemes (and perhaps beyond) will be instructed to remove the data collected and disassemble the mechanisms used in its collection and dissemination.

GRAHAM WYLLIE, Greengairs, Lanarkshire.