Swinney has made some progress on schools but he must do better

A column for outside contributors. Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk IN the short time since John Swinney has been Cabinet Secretary for Education he has served notice that he will not stand for any nonsense when it comes to excuses for poor performance. As a result, he has made some good decisions which, if put into practice effectively, should make a big difference.

The SNP has, at last, accepted that an important part of raising attainment across the board is the introduction of standardised assessment at key stages in a pupil’s school career, the results from which will allow us to see more clearly which pupils and which schools are making good progress and which are not.

He has also signalled his intention to provide greater autonomy for heads, and he has abandoned SQA unit assessments which had little academic purpose or credibility. In this last case, the rumour is that he was pandering to the Educational Institute of Scotland because its members were threatening to go on strike. Perhaps, but I hope it was much more to do with the fact that he believes government really does have to start listening to pupils and teachers.

So the Scottish Conservatives are pleased about some of the changes announced even if it has taken far too long for the SNP to react.

However, this is not enough. Mr Swinney has to go much further if he is to tackle those who are the real culprits when it comes to problems in our schools, namely the Scottish Government agencies that have overseen the development of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

In the first instance, how ironic is it that, at a time when we are all supposedly focused on encouraging all schools to teach good, plain English, those responsible for issuing teacher guidance produce gobbledygook, a point not missed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) when it recently examined Scottish schools.

The OECD was clear that our school system is top heavy, too dependent on government systems and, as a result, too wound up in jargon and red tape. The implication was that government and its agencies were there to interfere rather than support.

Instead of teachers being free to teach and be creative in their thinking, they are imprisoned by bureaucracy, much of which they find hard to interpret. In short, their professionalism is compromised because they cannot get on with the job they are trained to do.

Let’s be very clear about who it was who introduced many of the working practices that are being questioned. It was not the teachers or even the local authorities that can, at times, be just as responsible for reams of jargon, but government itself and its education agencies.

Mr Swinney needs to recognise this, and act, if he wants to put CfE back on the right rails.

We have ended up with a school system that, despite all the good intentions, is mired in confusion, with major questions marks over whether the senior phase really is delivering the best possible subject choice for our young people and whether the qualifications system is entirely fit for purpose.

Major reforms are required if we are to free up teachers and that is where I think many people are worried about the prospect of regional structures on top of what already exists.

The Cabinet Secretary says their purpose is to promote and deliver shared best practice.

Having spoken to two local authority directors of education last week, it is not at all clear what responsibilities will lie with regional bodies, with local authorities and with schools themselves.

Mr Swinney told me at the Scottish Parliament’s education committee that “some legal responsibilities which currently lie with local authorities could be devolved to schools” and that he will consult stakeholders on this over the next three months.

I would suggest that this means he does not yet have a really clear view about what changes he wants to make.

Be warned, Mr Swinney: it is a lack of vision and clarity that has put our schools into the muddle they face at present, through no fault of their own.

Getting out of that muddle is crucial if we really are to deliver improvements in attainment. Liz Smith is education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives.