MR SWINNEY, YOU HAVE FAILED

As the Education Secretary calls a summit to f ind how to do his job better, an ex-teacher has a few suggestions. But...

ONE in six Scottish pupils still leaves school without being able to read, write and count properly. This is a national disgrace. From the earliest years right through to college and university, the future of our children and our economy depend on the Scottish Government getting its education policies right.

At yesterday’s EIS conference, Education Secretary John Swinney pledged to change the curriculum to make reading, writing, health and wellbeing the top priority for primary schools.

These proposals are as welcome as they are overdue. Yet parents will rightly be sceptical – especially when looking at the SNP’s record on education.

Given the Nationalists’ failure to act since they came to power nine years ago, one wonders if this is just more empty words.

While many other nations have made great improvements in literacy and numeracy, Scotland has slipped back. Thousands of Scots pupils are failing to meet basic standards and international comparisons show our schools are treading water. That’s why it is so important the three Rs are at the heart of teacher training policy.

Likewise, the gap between rich and poor remains shameful. There is a continuing trend of general attainment levels slipping back between the middle years of primary and the early years of secondary school.

Last year, fewer than 3 per cent of pupils from the poorest backgrounds got three or more A grades at Higher level, compared to 20 per cent of those from more affluent homes.

DESPITE the rhetoric, the SNP has made no strides on this front since 2007. Instead, its answer has been to cut teacher numbers – including in areas such as nursery teaching and early years additional support for learning – even though research tells us these are the most critical years in closing the attainment gap.

Good quality testing is key, not just in assessing the ability of a child but to get a grasp of which schools are succeeding and which are not. So far, however, it has not been made clear in the National Improvement Framework what the new testing standards will involve and what information will be published.

In a recent report, international economic and development body the OECD cited the unacceptable jargon and paperwork which has accompanied the Curriculum For Excellence. This is what teachers speak of when they flag up unacceptable workloads.

The jargon and a lack of clarity from the Scottish Government and its agencies about the expectations placed on teachers have created significant issues with the Curriculum For Excellence. It has also meant that teachers have been diverted from getting on with the job in the classroom.

Last Thursday, Mr Swinney gave an interesting response to a question from my colleague, Lothian MSP Jeremy Balfour, who asked if he was concerned about the wide variance across schools when it came to the number of subjects pupils could choose for National 5 exams – in some schools seven subjects, in others six or even only five.

Yes, said Mr Swinney, he was concerned and it was now top of his agenda with the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Education Scotland, the body supporting quality in schools.

And so it should be. No pupil should have their educational opportunities constrained because of limited subject choice.

That is unacceptable and most especially if that constraint is caused by teacher shortages.

At the same time, Education Scotland, which some commentators have seen as the root of several problems, has issued an edict that schools must do much better in teaching the Curriculum For Excellence in S1-S3. Let’s hope the main focus is on subject choice and removing this weakness in the system.

Mr Swinney also needs to explain what action he will take to encourage more young people to take up modern languages and Science, Technology, Maths and Engineering (STEM) subjects. These are critical to the future of Scotland’s economy and for equipping our young people with the right skills they need, yet there are signs they are losing out when it comes to subject choice. This is despite the stark warnings from colleges, universities, business and industry and the SNP Government making a very firm commitment to support STEM skills and training.

THE Education Secretary will also need to ensure his deeds match his rhetoric when it comes to addressing the serious issues in some aspects of SQA exam administration. It is unacceptable to have papers presented to pupils which have not been properly checked or moderated. If not addressed quickly, there is a danger the public will lose faith in the exam system.

On Wednesday, a special education summit will take place which will involve discussions about the most fundamental problem we have in education – school reform.

The Scottish Conservatives want to fast-track plans to give schools much greater responsibilities. This is because schools work best when they have a clear sense of mission and ethos, with strong leaders at all levels from the headteacher’s office to the classroom.

As the leading opposition, we will back SNP reforms that will see better governance and the handing of more responsibility to schools. This includes giving schools more powers over budgets and recruitment and allowing them to opt out of the clutches of council control if that is seen as the best way of responding to parents’ demands and delivering better educational outcomes.

What we will not back is any attempt by the Scottish Government to sweep up more power and centralise the system.

From nursery to university, the Scottish Government already has far too much control over education and too rarely do we hear a proper debate about the direction of its policy. It is now time to reset the compass.

The public made a very clear choice in May when they voted for us to give Scotland a strong opposition and hold the SNP to account. We will not falter.

We have accepted the invitation to be part of John Swinney’s summit with enthusiasm and we will be positive in our approach.

As a former teacher with many friends still in the profession, I believe lots of good things can happen in our classrooms, thanks to the increasing professionalism of our teachers and heads – but only if they can get on with the job they were trained to do.

EDUCATION SPOKESMAN FOR THE SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVES By LIZ SMITH As others have improved, Scotland has slipped back