Meeting of the Parliament 17 May 2017
I declare an interest in that I am married to a primary school teacher and have two children at primary school. The issue of the standards of teaching in our schools is, therefore, deeply personal to me.
There are few people in Scotland who do not have some concerns about what is happening in our schools. To be fair, the case for change and improvement is explicitly supported by the Scottish Government in its agenda for reform, albeit that that agenda is being pursued only now, after 10 years in office. Although we, on these benches, might have pursued a different approach from some of the Scottish Government’s proposals, we at least share a recognition that the status quo is untenable.
We must recognise that curriculum for excellence was introduced with the best of intentions. Behind it lay a philosophical approach that said that creativity and problem solving were the vital skills that young people needed to acquire in order to address the challenges of the modern world. The approach to acquiring knowledge was as important as, if not more important than, the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake. There is nothing wrong with that general approach to education, provided that the basic skills in reading, writing and counting are still being taught. However, somewhere along the way, we seem to have gone wrong. Somewhere along the way, there has been a loss of focus on the acquisition of those basic skills.
The evidence of that is all too starkly seen in the Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy, in which the latest figures, which were published just last week, make sobering reading for the Government, for the whole education system and for pupils and parents. The percentage of children in secondary 2 who are not at the required level of literacy has more than doubled in four years, from 7 per cent in 2012 to 16 per cent in 2016. The proportion of S2 pupils who can write well or very well has fallen dramatically from 65 per cent in 2012 to 49 per cent—less than half—in 2016. It is not only on that measure that we are falling back. The international PISA results show that Scottish education has gone backwards in reading and mathematics, with pupils in England and Northern Ireland now outperforming Scottish pupils in every category. We must do better.
In opening the debate, my colleague Liz Smith made some important points about the evidence that was heard last week in the Education and Skills Committee. I will not repeat everything that she said, but it is clear that, when it comes to teacher training, there is a lack of focus on how to teach literacy and numeracy effectively; there is very little support for teaching those with additional support needs; there is very limited guidance on classroom management; and there is a sometimes chaotic organisation of classroom placements, which many would agree are the most vital part of the process of learning to be a teacher. All of that matters, because if our teachers are not gaining the skills that they need, how can we reasonably expect them to pass those skills on to their pupils?
Six years ago, in his report on teacher training, Graham Donaldson told the Scottish Government what needed to be done. He said that teacher selection should be more vigorous with reference to literacy and numeracy, and he recommended a number of other improvements. Sadly, too little has been done in the past six years to address those concerns. It is now up to the Scottish Government to push through the reforms needed to improve the quality of teacher training.
That matters because, if we are to have a successful nation, we need to have the highest possible quality of education. If we really are concerned about reducing inequalities, we must make improvements in our schools. The reality is that children who are fortunate enough to get support at home will usually do well under any system. It is those who do not get support at home who rely most on what happens in the classroom. That is why, if we are serious about fairness in society, we have to get this right and the Scottish Government must start upping its game.
16:18