Education Secretary told to ‘focus on the day job’ by union boss

JOHN SWINNEY has been warned to “focus on the day job” of improving education as it emerged a fresh independence vote was on the cards.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS), revealed he had cornered the Scottish Government’s Education Secretary in the wake of the First Minister’s shock announcement she would seek permission for a second referendum.

He told a fringe meeting at the party conference that he had warned the politician not to take his eye off the ball during the campaign after Scotland’s schools world ranking dramatically dropped in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report.

“Whilst [independence] is clearly going to be a big political agenda for all of you, and for a lot of people across Scotland, there is a need to stay focused on the day job to ensure we are still delivering high-quality education in our schools and in our colleges,” said Mr Flanagan.

It comes after Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson lambasted the Scottish Government for pushing independence while presiding over “failing schools”.

But Mr Flanagan said education should be used to play politics.

“I think there has been a very unfortunate narrative around education,” he said. “Scottish education is in good health.”

Mr Flanagan also called on Mr Swinney to tackle fat cat wages at Scotland’s Further Education college. He claimed almost 20 managers were earning more than £100,000 at City of Glasgow College while more lecturers were needed in classrooms.

“The number of management posts that have

emerged in FE has been phenomenal,” he said.

“[FE] has developed a niche position and it is not a good use of public resources.”

Mr Swinney denied accusations independence was being prioritised over education by the Scottish Government.

He also expressed concern about bosses’ wages at colleges.

“I constantly challenge the system to watch its costs, across the public sector; to deliver efficiencies and to try to more with their resources and to not have excessive management costs,” he said.

Elsewhere at the conference, Keith Brown claimed the Conservatives have resurrected Project Fear and were spreading “fake news”.

Holyrood’s Economy Secretary hit out at the Tories after Theresa May clashed with Nicola Sturgeon over the prospect of a fresh referendum on independence.

“They’ve been spreading fake news for years about our economy, our resources and the kind of future that we could build if Scotland chose an independent future,” he said.