Scottish education cannot be complacent about underlying causes of its decline – Scotsman comment

Scotland’s politicians need to recognise that our education system is in trouble – and that Dickensian levels of poverty are making things worse

The reaction of too many within the educational establishment to Scotland’s worst-ever performance on the international Pisa league tables could be summed up as a shrug of the shoulders. They seemed rather eager to join in with the Scottish Government’s ‘blame Covid’ mantra, and move on.

But, as the leading educationalist Professor Lindsay Paterson has pointed out, Scotland’s decline in mathematics was worse than that in England, although schools were closed during lockdown for roughly the same amount of time. Furthermore, Scotland has been suffering in comparison to other countries since at least 2012. So there is a serious problem that must be addressed.

Paterson noted that the results of the brightest pupils in the Pisa tables were “particularly poor” compared to their English counterparts. This has led some to argue that the Scottish Government’s unsuccessful efforts to close the educational attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils are damaging education. It is of no use to anyone if the gap is closed by pulling the high achievers down, while those already struggling continue to do so.

However, as we report today, there is another issue that is damaging the life-chances of Scotland’s young generation: Dickensian levels of poverty. Children are coming to school with holes in their shoes, shivering in thin clothes, without having had breakfast – some after sleeping in a cold home without even a bed.

One head teacher of an Edinburgh secondary school welcomes pupils with a tray of cereal bars each morning so they can have something to eat. The school also has warm clothes for those who need them. Children's charity Aberlour is now running a campaign to raise money for its “urgent assistance fund” to help ensure the poorest families have essentials like food and clothing. Cold, tired and hungry children are unlikely to be top performers in school.

So there are problems with Scottish education, though not all are confined to the classroom. They are, however, all the responsibility of our elected politicians, who must be held to account – not placated by a complacent educational establishment whose main interest appears to be to avoid rocking the boat.