Swinney attacked over latest pledge on education

EDUCATION Secretary John Swinney has been accused of ‘repeatedly dropping the ball’ as he launched a mini-manifesto pledging to transform the education system. He will today unveil his five-step plan to tackle the growing attainment gap.

Mr Swinney is expected to outline priorities including early learning and childcare, maintaining teacher numbers and improving outcomes for youngsters in care.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has claimed education is her government’s top priority.

But this commitment has been questioned following Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results which show Scotland’s school results in key subjects such as reading and maths are falling behind the rest of the UK.

Mr Swinney is launching the manifesto ahead of next month’s council elections. He said: ‘A good education is an investment – not just in our children, but in our society and our economy. The SNP believes from the early years through to adulthood, everyone should be given the very best chance of success in life.’

A school in Mr Swinney’s Perthshire North constituency recently asked parents to help with maths lessons because of a teacher shortage.

Scots Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said Mr Swinney had ‘repeatedly dropped the ball’ on education. He added: ‘Under the SNP, the gap between the richest and poorest in schools has widened, and there are 4,000 fewer teachers and 1,000 fewer support staff.

‘The SNP Government has cut £1.5billion from local services since 2011 – cuts to education made by John Swinney when finance secretary.’

Scottish Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘People are tired of hearing the SNP’s excuses on why our education system is failing. Everyone knows that all the SNP rhetoric about education being their top priority is not matched by the necessary action.’

‘Gap between richest and poorest has widened’