Why fresh delays to school violence action and exam reform have left teachers 'extremely frustrated'

Teaching leaders have condemned “extremely frustrating” delays that mean long-awaited measures for tackling classroom violence will not be ready by the start of the new school year.

School staff were said to be heading into the summer holiday period “still awaiting answers” after an action plan to address the nation’s school behaviour crisis was hit by a fresh setback.

New guidelines on the use of mobile phones in schools have also been delayed, as has the Government’s response to a report on the future of school qualifications that was published a year ago.

Scottish ministers blamed Rishi Sunak’s decision to call a Westminster election for impacting all three, highlighting guidance for civil servants on making government announcements in the pre-election period.

Concerns about escalating school violence have been near the top of the political agenda for more than a year, but few concrete measures have materialised to improve safety for pupils and staff.

After a series of summits were held last year, the Scottish Government said in November that a detailed action plan would be “developed in the coming weeks and published in the new year”. However, it has still not emerged, despite unions saying they continue to hear reports of incidents every day.

The head of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the nation’s largest teaching union, revealed earlier this month it was refusing to sign-off on the action plan unless it included investment in additional resources.

Meanwhile, a review by Professor Louise Hayward proposing a shake-up of school qualifications, including the ending of exams at S4 and the creation of a Scottish Diploma of Achievement, was published a year ago, but the Government is still to officially respond to the recommendations.

Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth had been expected to publish both documents, as well as new guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools, before the end of the parliamentary term on Thursday. But it was revealed earlier this week that all three would be delayed until after the summer holidays.

Mike Corbett, Scotland official for the NASUWT teaching union, said: “While the Scottish Government, like most of us, may have been caught out by the surprise announcement of the date of the election and this has impacted on some of the policy launches and updates it had planned, the further delay to the publication of the national action plan on relationships and behaviour and on the Scottish Government's response to the Hayward review, which came out in June 2023, is extremely frustrating.

“We are still receiving daily reports of NASUWT members being verbally abused and assaulted in schools across Scotland and we had hoped that the National Action Plan would have been published before now in order that its key messages could be acted upon and embedded in schools before the start of the new academic year.

“On the Hayward review, I was literally in a meeting yesterday discussing the reasons why more pupils are leaving school in S4 than we would expect and a key reason shared by all was the need to update and improve the senior phase offer to pupils in Scotland. Yet we still do not know the Scottish Government's own views on a report about the senior phase which they commissioned and which was published over a year ago.

“Teachers in Scotland did not want to go into the summer holiday period still awaiting answers and guidance on these two vital areas but, regrettably, that is where we currently are.”

Figures published in April had revealed the widespread scale of school violence. In the school year up to March, a total of 23,010 incidents were logged from 27 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities.

Graham Hutton, general secretary of School Leaders Scotland (SLS), which represents secondary head teachers, deputy heads and faculty heads, also expressed frustration at the lack of answers on qualifications reform.

“SLS understands the issue with the general election as a reason for the further delay in the Government’s response to Hayward,” he said.

“In addition, issuing its response at the end of term, when school are starting to go off for the summer would be very poor timing on the Scottish Government’s part. 

“But this all adds to the high level of frustration being experienced by school leaders due to the fact we know reform is coming, but we don’t know what form it will take, when it will come and how will it be resourced.

“It is over a year since Professor Hayward published the report of her committee. All the professional associations backed it, as did ADES [Association of Directors of Education in Scotland]. 

“Whilst we understood the Cabinet secretary’s wish to consult further, we feel there has been an inordinate delay in getting to a decision.”

The Scottish Government has been repeatedly criticised over the past year for the slow progress on education reform, although in recent weeks it has published draft legislation for the replacement of the Scottish Qualifications Authority and a new schools inspectorate.

Mr Hutton said: “We hope the decision to ‘get Hayward done’ will appear soon after the summer holidays and that there will be a clear indication of how these worthy proposals will become a reality and how they fit in to the bigger education reform picture covering qualifications, assessment, the new qualifications authority, a reformed and more focused Education Scotland, an independent inspectorate, the Centre for Teaching Excellence, the curriculum review cycle, the strategic review of teacher education and the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

“We need to see how all the various jigsaw pieces fit together to make a coherent and sustainable education system, fit for purpose for the 21st century and able to ensure we improve the life chances of every young person in Scotland.” 

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As is standard practice during a UK pre-election period, the Scottish Government takes particular care regarding the announcement of decisions which could have a bearing on the UK general election.

“In line with the pre-election guidance, the Scottish Government response to the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment, the behaviour action plan and mobile phones guidance will now be published as soon as feasible in the new school year.

“We have already outlined ambitious plans for education reform, including the establishment of a Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland and the creation of Qualification Scotland through the new Education (Scotland) Bill.

“We will also have a national education agency that will lead curriculum design, delivery and improvement, including the provision of resources to support high quality learning and teaching.”