Jennifer Dempsie: Problem of achievement solved by autonomy

THERE is growing evidence to support the claim that educational standards improve under independent governance, writes Jennifer Dempsie

Does size and autonomy matter when it comes to our education? A report by the Federation of Care and Education of Children and Adolescents (FEDA), a group of Catalan organisations, shows how school failure is much lower in the territories with full fiscal autonomy. In particular, Basque Country and Navarra in Spain.

The school failure rate in the Basque Country (12.6 per cent) is below the EU and the UK averages. Clearly something to shout about.

The report also states that the four EU countries with the lowest school failure rates are small nations: Croatia, Slovakia, Sweden and Slovenia.

Commenting on the report, Tontxu Campos, former minister of education, universities and research in the Basque government and currently head of innovation and entrepreneurship in the University of Deusto, said: “No doubt that there is a clear relationship between our success rates in educational system and self-government. Due to the economic agreement, it is the Basque people who decide the priorities and what to invest in. As we do not depend on the Spanish budget, our competences in education can be carried out according to the needs of our students and families and the plans designed by our own experts.”

But what does this mean for Scotland? Would the devo-plus model or independence help return our educational reputation to its former glory? And more importantly, drive up attainment for the next generation of Scotland’s children?

For me the case is backed up in the last Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study in 2010 of education in 70 countries gives us some insight. The OECD PISA (Programme for International Student Achievement) is an assessment of 15-year-olds around the world in reading, maths and science.

The 2010 report was a mixed bag for Scotland. We were above the OECD average in reading and science, and similar to the OECD average in maths but engagement in reading was lower in Scotland that on average in the OECD. Estonia and the Alpine principality of Liechtenstein are outstripping Scotland with improved standards in mathematics and science. The top European country for all three subjects was again Finland – the teacher’s pet of European school performance demonstrating the link between small fiscally autonomous and independent nations performance.

What also strikes a cord with the PISA and Catalan study is socio-economic status.

According to the PISA report, Scottish school children’s performance was more than the average according to their socio-economic backgrounds. Also, the attainment gap associated with poverty and area deprivation was evident at the start and widens during the course of primary school.

The Catalan report also states that children from lower income families are more likely to underachieve at school and the recession is making the problem worse.

Luckily for Scotland the recession hasn’t hit as hard as in Catalonia or even the rest of the UK. In Catalonia, unemployment rates sit at 20.5 per cent and Spain as a whole at 22.8 per cent, much higher than the Basque country’s at 12.1 per cent .

Scotland’s unemployment rate is substantially lower at 8.1per cent, outperforming the UK, but we still have problems. Families are struggling all over Scotland to pay their bills. According to Children 1st one in five children in Scotland live in poverty which leads to lower educational achievement and attainment.

Until this is tackled head on Scotland will not achieve educational parity, improve young people’s life chances and bump up our position on the league tables.

Socio-economic inequality doesn’t just have an impact on school education it has a knock-on effect on higher education. The annual figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show only 27 per cent of students at Scottish universities came from lower socio-economic classes in 2010-11, less than the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government has announced plans to give universities binding targets on widening participation, with fines for those that fail. However, universities argue the problem is not just their own making, with attainment among secondary school pupils from deprived areas markedly lower than their contemporaries from middle class areas.

We can reduce inequality in Scotland, not just in education. I firmly believe that independence and the financial autonomy that brings is a key driver.

This is needed now more than ever given the policy divergence in addressing social equality, between the Tory-led Westminster government and Scottish SNP government.

In London we have a government focusing on tax breaks for the rich, cutting welfare and council tax benefits hurting the poor the hardest. In Scotland we have an SNP government focused on job creation, establishing a living wage of £7.20 an hour to promote economic justice, no compulsory redundancies in the public sector and legislating for a minimum of 600 hours free nursery education across the country as a statutory right.

Using all our assets, an independent Scotland can focus on social, economic and environmental solutions for Scotland driving up standards of living, promoting equality and enshrine social justice in a constitution for Scotland.

Educationally, the Basque’s are outperforming the rest of Spain with full fiscal levers to pursue their policy priorities.

Scotland could emulate this and do even better. Full fiscal and political responsibilities are needed to close the gap between rich and poor, improve equality between men and women and eradicate child poverty.

• Jennifer Dempsie is an adviser to the SNP and former special adviser to the First Minister