Pupils ‘need 6 more hours of tuition a week’

CHILDREN will need six more hours of teaching a week to stop Scotland sliding down an international maths league table, an education expert has said.

Professor Lindsay Paterson has warned innovative measures are needed to ensure pupils do not suffer as a result of lockdown closures.

It comes as 15-year-olds will prepare to sit tests next year set by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), with the results to be published in 2022.

Previous publications showed Scotland’s maths performance plummeting. The professor of education policy at Edinburgh University told The National: ‘Scotland has struggled in Pisa since around 2000 or 2003. The Scottish Pisa results could get worse if pupils don’t get the extra six hours a week lessons.

‘Research found that parents are better at teaching their children literacy than teaching numeracy or mathematics. The main topic of the 2021 Pisa will be mathematics and this is potentially one of the areas hardest hit by the prolonged period of school closures.’

He said one of the biggest issues would be what measures are put in place to ensure children are not left behind. Professor Paterson added: ‘That’s why the policy on catch-up is so important.’

It comes after Education Secretary John Swinney confirmed that no formal request has been made to rehire former teachers to help schools when they reopen.

Scottish Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘There are significant numbers of former qualified, retired and newly qualified teachers ready to provide an army of support. The problem is so few have been signed up, which flies in the face of the SNP claim they will do whatever it takes to get it right for every child.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We know pupils will need extra help when schools reopen. We are investing an additional £100million to tackle the impact of lockdown and ensure children get the support they need.’