SNP has failed in its ‘def ining mission’ over education gap

NICOLA Sturgeon has failed in her so called ‘defining mission’ to close the educational attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils.

A report from Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission notes that ‘progress on closing the gap has been limited and falls short of the Scottish Government’s aims’.

The report makes clear the SNP administration has failed to close the attainment gap, meaning vast inequalities still exist between the least and most deprived pupils at all levels.

While exam performance at a national level has improved, progress since 2014 has been inconsistent between council areas.

The proportion of school leavers achieving five or more awards at Level 5 was 82.7 per cent for those from the least deprived areas, compared with 46.5 per cent for those from the most deprived areas – a gap of 36.2 per cent.

However, the gap is lower than its 41.6 per cent level in 2014.

The findings come after a separate report from the Government on its ‘attainment challenge’, launched by Nicola Sturgeon in 2015. It found there was ‘strong evidence’ a £750million Attainment Scotland Fund was making a difference.

The auditors’ report, published today, says it is important to look beyond exam results when judging education. Better data is needed to understand if wellbeing and self-confidence are improving, it said.

Auditor general for Scotland, Stephen Boyle, also warned the pandemic could exacerbate inequalities within the education system. He said: ‘Significantly reducing the attainment gap is complex, but the pace of improvement has to increase as part of the Government’s Covid19 recovery planning. That process needs to particularly focus on the pandemic’s impact on the most disadvantaged children.’

The Accounts Commission, which monitors local governments in Scotland, also contributed to the report. Elma Murray, interim chairman of the commission, said: ‘This is not solely about exam performance.

‘Education also supports and improves the health and wellbeing of children, which has been impacted by the pandemic.

‘It is vital that councils, schools and their partners work to reduce the wide variation in outcomes and tackle the short and long-term impacts of Covid19 on learning and wellbeing.’

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘Nicola Sturgeon repeatedly said people should judge her on the SNP’s education record but after 14 years in charge they have failed miserably to reduce the attainment gap. Even prior to the pandemic, the SNP failed to address learning inequalities. They have slashed thousands of teachers and broken their promises on reducing class sizes.’

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said closing the attainment gap ‘remains our defining mission’. He added: ‘We will give full consideration to the issues and recommendations in Audit Scotland’s report.

‘We have put in place a comprehensive range of measures, supported by the £750million Attainment Scotland Fund.

‘We have seen improvements across a number of indicators.’

‘Broken their promises’