Back to school ...but teachers still in the dark

New guidelines have yet to arrive

TEACHERS are still waiting for new guidelines on Scotland’s disaster-prone curriculum – after John Swinney failed to produce them before most pupils returned to school.

The Education Secretary had pledged to provide teachers with a ‘basic framework’ to allow them to teach in ‘confidence’ before the start of the new school year.

Staff had complained about too much bureaucracy and a lack of detailed guidance in the Curriculum for Excellence, introduced in 2010 in an effort to drive up standards.

Mr Swinney said in June that he would ‘put in place clear and simple statements that give teachers confidence about what Curriculum for Excellence does and does not expect of them’.

‘I have instructed [schools quango] Education Scotland to prepare and publish a clear and concise statement of the basic framework within which teachers teach, which will be published in time for the new school session in August.’

But it emerged yesterday that the guidance has not been delivered as promised to the country’s 48,000 teachers, despite most pupils returning this week following the summer break.

Glasgow City Council, the country’s largest local authority, confirmed it had not received the guidance and did not know when it was due to be published.

A council spokesman said: ‘We are aware of this but do not know when this is due to be published. However, our teachers will need time to familiarise themselves with a new framework and it would be unrealistic to expect them to have a framework delivered one day and to be in place the next day.

‘Teachers have already been using the experiences and outcomes [benchmarks for pupil

‘The SNP is already behind schedule’

development] from Curriculum for Excellence to support their planning for the last few years and careful planning is crucial for children’s learning.’

Scottish Labour said the delay was a sign that Mr Swinney’s changes to education were already not going to plan.

The party’s education spokesman Iain Gray said: ‘Whilst the First Minister is posing for photos at schools, her flagship education plan is already behind schedule.

‘Teachers were promised concise and clear guidelines to declutter the curriculum and clarify what is expected of them.

‘Teachers were promised this for going back to work but the wheels have already come off that plan.

‘If the SNP are going to make promises to teachers and parents they need to keep them.’

The Scottish Government has now pledged to publish the new guidance by August 29. A spokesman said: ‘We are determined that this guidance will provide an emphatic statement of priorities for Scotland’s schools that addresses all of the relevant issues and provides the clarity that teachers need.

‘To ensure that it is delivered, we are consulting widely across the teaching profession.’

Meanwhile, the ‘National Qualifications working group’ which aims to reduce teacher workloads, held its first meeting this week, chaired by Mr Swinney.

The Education Secretary said: ‘My priority is to improve attainment throughout Scotland and if we are going to achieve this we need to continue to work with all interested parties on ways we can improve.’