Meeting of the Parliament 18 December 2024
There is no doubt that our education system is in crisis, and it has been the top subject of political debate for many years. However, the inspectorate has played no role in blowing the whistle on any of the issues. Where was the indication from the inspectorate that Scottish educational performance was slipping down the international rankings? Where was the highlighting by the inspectorate of our serious and deep-seated problems with behaviour in the classroom? Where was the highlighting by the inspectorate of our deep problems with absence, particularly following the pandemic? The inspectorate was itself absent on all those big issues.
Then we have the SQA, which dramatically lost confidence during the pandemic as a result of the marking episode and the arrangements that it put in place, as Ross Greer has just described.
Both those organisations are absolutely essential if we are to provide robust challenge and to have confidence and trust in the organisation of education in Scotland. If our national bodies are not respected and have no authority, how can they hold local authorities to account for how they perform? Equally, how do those bodies challenge the Government? If they are weak, education is weak. That is why we need dramatic change and why we will support the bill today.
The SQA needs to be changed and we need a new qualifications body. The higher history episode of recent months shows exactly why we need a separation of the accreditation function. The fact that the chief executive—the chief examiner—did her own investigation into the performance of her organisation in that marking episode shows exactly why the system is not working. Even if it was the best review in the world, nobody would believe it, because it was not independent. It needs to be independent.