No time for knee-jerk reaction to vote

Swinney is right to ‘reflect’ on MSPS’ opposition to P1 testing as children’s needs are paramount

Last night’s defeat of the Scottish Government on the testing of primary one pupils is undoubtedly a blow to John Swinney and the SNP.

Only time will tell whether losing such a crucial parliamentary vote has any wider political significance than simply delivering a morale boost to the opposition benches at Holyrood.

In the adverserial world of politics, there are always instant winners and losers, and yesterday it was clear who was having a good day. Adverserial politics, however, is not always good at producing sound policy. Our concern has been, and remains, that the long-term losers as a result of last night’s vote could be the children of Scotland.

Crucially, Mr Swinney’s hands are not tied by the defeat in which the opposition parties joined forces to pass a parliamentary motion by 63 votes to 61 calling on the government to stop the tests. The education secretary knows he risks being accused of being autocratic, or worse anti-democratic, by refusing to now ditch the tests.

What has to guide him now, however, is the best interests of our children. No-one would advocate the continuation of a testing regime that inflicts severe stress on five year olds. To scrap testing at that age altogether though is a completely different matter.

There are good reasons for checking on the progress of youngsters when they start school, both on an individual and collective basis. Doing so can help to ensure that all children who need extra support are identified early on and appropriate action taken.

Knowing the overall ability of the cohort is also important as a benchmark for measuring progress as the children move through school and against previous and future years. Testing, as long as it is carried out in a sensitive and appropriate way, is good for children, even at the age of five.

There is no doubt that our education system needs to make changes, with Scotland sliding down the international league tables for academic achievement.

Our schools and teachers need the right tools to support that improvement.

It may well be that the way in which testing is delivered needs further consideration, but should Mr Swinney focus on reform rather than abandoning his commitment to the principle of testing five year olds then he will be on the right track.