Hugh Reilly: Cooking books can’t improve education

Many Christmas leavers are simply serving time and draining resources. Picture: Getty

IT WAS kind of the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, to gift stricken British banks with a £1 trillion bailout of taxpayers money. Not since Bernie Madoff had the world witnessed such generosity with other people’s hard-earned money. Sadly, the doubtless well-intentioned intervention of Kirkcaldy’s finest philanthropist to save private-sector businesses using public-sector finance had a highly foreseen negative impact on UK government expenditure. It was against the ruling elite’s sense of natural justice for The Beautiful People who banked million-pound bonuses to pay for their gluttonous excesses. Instead, welfare claimants have taken the brunt of the cuts, oops, efficiency agenda, politicians believing that the thinnest backs should bear the greatest burden. The parlous extent of the UK’s finances has debilitated the capacity of our armed forces to invade and occupy foreign countries, a dreadful state of affairs; for those far off heathen lands, imposition of British-style democracy must wait another day.

Belts are being tightened, the Westminster government garrotte strangling the ability of the Scottish government to adequately fund local councils. Corseted by cuts to budgets, Cosla, the umbrella body representing local authorities, is starting to squeal. Despite a report from the Accounts Commission declaring that education spending fell by 5 per cent in real terms over the past two years, councils wish to reduce further the number of teachers on the payroll. To do this would need the agreement of the SNP administration, something which is unlikely given the kicking the government received over this particular political football at last week’s FMQs.

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I’m intrigued as to how reducing teaching staff is perceived to be the proper response to the widening attainment difference between the best and worst performing schools in Scotland. In the years spanning 2004 till 2013, 19 of the 32 councils reported a deteriorating situation regarding the diminution of life chances afforded to our most vulnerable children. No-one, it seems, is minding the gap.

Reducing teacher numbers will only succeed in increasing pupil-to-teacher ratios, a recipe for greater disparity between the educational outcomes of the haves and have nots. Instead of a slash-and-burn approach to teacher recruitment programmes, councils should be lobbying for the end of the bizarre statutory school leaving age. As I write, there are thousands of youngsters who have completed seven years of primary and four years of secondary education yet find themselves dragooned into staying on until the end of December. By dint of bad luck starting primary school aged four and a half, this  so-called “Christmas leavers” cohort are compelled to continue their education to no apparent purpose other than fulfilling the requirements of an arbitrary leaving date. Unsurprisingly, these press-ganged pupils vote with their feet and opt to view school as a drop-in centre. To be fair, this is perhaps one of the most insightful decisions they will ever make.

In the same vein, our secondaries are positively awash with upper-school students devoid of any academic bent. For many senior pupils, school is a de facto youth club, the sixth form dorm a hive of educational inactivity as the next Ed Sheeran strums a guitar to the obvious delight of his perma-tanned muse who has read all four of Katie Price’s autobiographies. Schools actively encourage these kids to continue their, ahem, education because they are judged on the so-called “staying-on” rate. Let’s be honest – it’s a job creation/protection scheme for teachers as there is no incentive for guidance staff to coax these kids to let go of the comfort blanket and seek either employment or a college place. If we dared to drain the swamp of teenagers who should not be in schools, we could direct more teachers to deprived areas and increase opportunities for those most disadvantaged.

Councils should be radical and rationalise their schools estate portfolio. Of course, this would entail mustering political courage that is all too often lacking in the education landscape. When I started my teaching career in 1980, Glasgow boasted 44 secondary schools. In the Nineties, that bloated empire fell to just 29. The sharp decline in the number of education delivery outlets appears not to have adversely affected consumers – levels of attainment have improved in recent years. Like most councils, however, Glasgow is still loath to close semi-vacant primary schools for fear of annihilation at the ballot box.

The hint of voter vengeance is enough for local authorities to make savings through stealth. The money shaved from the expenditure account by introducing an “asymmetric week” to schools is minimal but every little bit helps I suppose. Cramming a week’s worth of learning and teaching into four and a half days means lower heating and lighting costs. However, such savings are bound to be at the margin as, in an individual school, it’s doubtful if the reduced outlay on energy would come near the salary of one experienced classroom teacher, that is, £34,000.

More attention should be paid to the quality of teachers, not the mere quantity. From my own experience, all too often an in-service day is nothing more than snooze-cruise. Professional development remains haphazard, with some councils investing heavily in high-quality training while others choose to adhere to the Poundstretcher model.

It looks as if councils will meet the teacher numbers target next month. The present compact between national and local government expires next year and I’d be surprised if a further deal did not transpire. Parents want their kids to receive a good education in classes not bursting at the seams. They desire continuity of teaching, not an education service reliant on the heavy lifting being carried out by itinerant staff on temporary contracts.

The number of school pupils is predicted to rise in 2017. In my opinion, the political repercussions of not providing sufficient staffing for schools will concentrate the minds of local authorities and Holyrood parliamentarians. And you can take that to the bank.

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