Attainment numbers don’t add up for SNP

Another day, another damning indictment of Scotland’s education system. Earlier this week statistics released following the Scottish Government’s Survey of Literacy and Numeracy revealed a slump in pupil performance.

According to the findings, fewer than half of 13 and 14-year-olds are able to write well, compared with nearly two-thirds in 2012.

Labour and Tory opposition politicians leapt upon the figures — and even Education Secretary John Swinney was forced to admit they are “simply not good enough”.

He talked of a need to “better understand the progress of individual pupils”.

It seems to be a multi-faceted problem, with Larry Flanagan of the EIS suggesting teachers and pupils are suffering from “over-assessment” as new qualifications are introduced.

Whatever the causes, perhaps one area of investigation should focus on teaching standards. A fresh report, out yesterday, suggested some teachers are graduating without sufficient skills to teach maths to primary seven pupils.

It is a startling suggestion and is certainly something that needs to be tackled as a matter of priority.

After all, what chance do our 11-year-olds have if those tasked with teaching them even the most basic of skills are falling woefully short of the required standard?