Michael Kelly: Parents have a right to see school league tables

The Scottish Government is planning to chip away at parents’ rights. Until now, all handbooks produced by Scottish schools were required to contain information on how any one school was performing in relation to other schools throughout Scotland. This was thought to be of such importance to parents that the need to produce such information in every school handbook was enshrined in statute. Now the Scottish Government is to press ahead with the costly and time-consuming process of changing the law to absolve schools of this responsibility. One has to ask: why?

The idea apparently emerged after a consultation process with parents which ended a year ago. The government’s summary of that consultation concluded that parents were much more interested in local information, and “ethos” was what they were most concerned about. Information on school policies, school contact details and the curriculum were also important. Are we saying that phone numbers are more relevant than results?

This approach did receive support from one parents’ organisation. Iain Ellis, chair of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, said change was needed because “the current legislation seemed so out of touch with where Scottish parents and there (sic) schools are today”. The fact that such an error of grammatical principle was not only made but not picked up by the government’s educational advisers who pored over it may say more about the present deplorable state of our education system than the rest of the consultation process.

Teachers are, naturally, in favour of the government’s plans. Of all the public sector employees, teachers are the most resistant to any suggestion of monitoring or measuring. Just listen to Ann Ballinger, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, as she defends staff who every year “find themselves at the bottom of league tables, which is entirely unfair because they are doing wonderful work which is not being recognised”.

Well, league tables do not tell the whole story, which is why they are frowned upon by most political parties in Scotland. School catchments areas vary so widely in terms of wealth and the educational and social backgrounds of parents as to warn that tables do not compare like with like. And the intrinsic problem with tables is that someone must finish bottom. But even football fans do not interpret league tables so crudely. Celtic win the league and Dunfermline are relegated. No-one compares these two clubs because it is obvious that in terms of resources and support one is far richer than the other. Celtic are judged by higher criteria, and Dunfermline by their performance relative to other clubs around them. It is still possible to identify underperforming clubs, managers and players.

It should not be difficult, even for educationalists, to adapt the logic of the terracing. If a school consistently finishes bottom of the league then it’s a fair assumption that the work its teachers are doing should be examined. Teachers are among the first to complain about the higher rewards available in the private sector. They might have a case if they accepted the uncertainty and risk that goes with high-paid jobs. Performance, if not morale, would certainly improve if headteachers in failing schools and heads of failing departments knew their jobs were on the line and a few examples were made “to encourage the others”. As we all know, that’s a quote from Voltaire about Admiral Byng, shot on his own quarterdeck. But will the next generation pick up these allusions if the SNP has its way and Scottish literature is shoved down kids’ throats?

The fact that national comparison data is still to be collected but is to be excluded from school handbooks leads to further suspicion. Is this merely a matter of cost savings? If the data is included then handbooks have to be updated every year.

Yet the one thing the new form of handbook promises, in response to parents’ demands, is a description of the ethos of the school. This necessarily has to be a “description” because of the nebulous nature of the concept. It strays well beyond facts. Indeed, it is a copywriter’s dream, and schools would be well advised to invite those experienced in polishing up glowing brochures for Costa Brava hotels to complete the text – describe the swimming pool and ignore the building site next door.

But ethos is not simply about uniforms, discipline, sports and, in Catholic schools, a crucifix in every classroom. It must include performance, and that means results. Any responsible parent should want to know how his children’s school is performing in relation to its peers. The motivated middle-class parent will find the necessary data. But the poorest, most needy children will again be disadvantaged. Their parents do not have such ready access to the internet, do not have the same skills in tracking down information. They’ll be more easily misled by glossy handbooks and bland reassurances from teachers not willing to face the reality of failing schools.

The removal of the statutory requirement to reveal important data to parents is one of the few political acts that can fairly be described as a scandal. It is an act against equality. It favours one class against another, the better off against the worse off.

The SNP is establishing a precedent for failing to gather or hiding embarrassing information. Remember the Catholic Church’s astonishment when they turned up to receive directly from Alex Salmond figures on sectarian offences, only to be told that the data wasn’t there. Equally, figures on school placement requests used to be available on the government’s website. The information on that site today relates to March 2010. Is that data being suppressed as well?

When the government presents its proposal to change the law, it must be opposed by all the other parties in Holyrood. Not that it will do much good. Teachers are clearly more important to this government than children and parents.