Challenge to close the attainment gap

EXPERTS have been told to challenge ministers to come up with “robust” school reforms to close the attainment gap in Scotland’s schools.

Education Secretary John Swinney is to hold two days of meetings with the Scottish Government’s International Council of Education Advisers, a body made up of global academics and experts.

Mr Swinney said: “We want to create a world-class education system that helps all of our children to succeed.

“In working towards that aim, Scotland is extremely fortunate to have access to the expertise of our International Council of Education Advisers, a powerful resource that will bring its own valuable and varied perspective to delivering excellence and equity in our schools.

“The first meeting of the council identified three key themes for consideration as it brings forward recommendations to help our efforts to drive improvement and close the poverty-related attainment gap.

“I look forward to hearing the emerging thinking on those themes during our discussions, as well as confirming the reporting timetable for the recommendations to be published.”

He added: “We are taking forward a reform agenda based firmly on the OECD’s independent review of Scottish education, which endorsed Curriculum for Excellence.

“That report presented questions and challenges for the Scottish Government and it is essential that the ICEA presents similar challenges to ministers to ensure that our reforms are robust and deliver the improvements we need.”