Teflon John

So John Swinney lives to fight another day or, more probably, to oversee another botched scheme. Saved by the Greens, Mr Swinney can carry on in charge of Scottish education.

We have had the much criticised Curriculum for Excellence, plans for P1 tests which teachers described as “meaningless” and “a waste of time”, falling Scottish standards in science and mathematics in the PISA figures (branded as “unreliable” by SNP supporters) and most recently the 2020 exams fiasco. We also used to have the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy but that was scrapped by the SNP government when it kept reporting annual declines in standards.

Most commentators agree that Scottish education standards have been slipping for many years. Gill Turner (Letters, 14 August) believes that Scottish education is in a “renaissance”. A view not shared by many, except maybe the Greens.

JIM HOUSTON

Winton Gardens, Edinburgh