Fife Council scraps controversial testing

Local authority becomes first in Scotland to do away with Holyrood assessments for primary one pupils

Fife Council has become the first local authority to scrap the Scottish Government’s controversial primary one assessments.

SNP councillors failed in their bid to see Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA) retained in the region and were outvoted by 41 to 26.

Scottish Labour’s education spokesman Iain Gray MSP responded to the news by accusing Scottish education secretary John Swinney of having “lost control of schools policy altogether.”

He added: “His flagship education bill was binned, the Budget leaves schools facing teachers’ strikes in a matter of weeks, and now his national testing is no longer national, at least in primary one.”

Yesterday’s decision means in Fife there will be no SNSA tests, which involve children completing online exercises alongside a teacher to assess numeracy and literacy.

Instead, primary ones will be tested using the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) method previously used in Fife.

All other political parties on the council voted to withdraw SNSA and it is the first time there has been a major split between SNP and Labour in the powersharing administration.

Opponents of SNSA had been accused by SNP councillor Alistair Suttie of trying to “deliver a bloody nose to the Scottish Government” after MSPs voted in parliament to halt the tests.

But Labour co-leader, Councillor David Ross, who lodged the successful motion to scrap the tests, said teachers, parents and unions backed PIPS. And he denied it was a political move. “We have heard that teachers, parents and unions have all raised issues about this,” he said.

“I think there are different views on different sides but there is certainly a balance of opinion that says this is the wrong approach.

“I’m not particularly caring what has gone on in the Scottish Parliament around this but when teachers, parents and unions come to us and our experience is that what they’re telling us is this is not the right approach, then we need to take notice of that.”

It was the fourth time Fife councillors had discussed primary one testing at committee.

Councillors voted 38 to 27 in favour of withdrawing SNSA at the full council meeting in October.

The matter was then referred to Fife’s education and children’s services committee, where SNP councillors narrowly won the vote to continue the tests.

However, Conservative councillor Richard Watt said overturning the decision of the council chamber was “undemocratic and in breach of Fife Council rules” and the matter was called in by the scrutiny committee, which then referred it back to full council.

The budget leaves schools facing teachers’ strikes and now his national testing is no longer national, at least in primary one. IAIN GRAY