A few weeks ago, the long-awaited outcomes of the national conversation on Scottish education, ably led and analysed by Professor Carol Campbell and Professor Alma Harris, were published. A very impressive 38,000 people – including large numbers of young people – took part. They called their final report “All Learners in Scotland Matter”, perhaps in a bid to suggest that a great many young people are side-lined by the current focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

The Campbell/Harris report comes in two forms – the detailed, long version, and a shorter summary with plenty of pictures of cheerful children and their teachers. I recommend – perhaps oddly – that you start with the ‘coda’ section of the big report, where the professors, careful throughout to rightly praise teachers in Scotland, take on a more critical, urgent tone: “One thing is clear, and we cannot emphasise this enough, there is an overwhelming appetite for change – albeit the ‘right change’ at the right pace with the right supports.”

Just in the last few days, and rather less heralded, came the Skills Delivery Landscape Review from the independent consultant James Withers, another 90-page document. Having consulted widely with all the relevant professionals in schools, colleges and universities about how we currently fit up our young people for their future employment, Withers concluded “substantial change is required to ensure the system is fit for the future”.

And, of course, the third part of the jigsaw, Professor Louise Hayward’s final report on assessment and certification is due to be published today. This is also certain to recommend substantial changes, in search of a balance between traditional exams, coursework and vocational qualifications. It is expected to provoke a lively debate.

So the educational stage in Scotland is set for a really important shake-up, certainly the most significant since the introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence in 2010, following the last major review, the National Debate on Education in 2002. You might note that it took eight years to implement change the last time; we can’t wait that long this time.

Scottish education is in a very difficult place – no doubt the pandemic made its vicious contribution here, as in so many areas of public life – but our schools were struggling well before then. So, with troubling statistics on basic skills, plus real concerns over school attendance and violence in schools, it’s time for the politicians to do something. Fast.

A debate at Holyrood on the day the Campbell/Harris report was published made very odd reading. The SNP/Green coalition rightly praised the academics’ work and then there was much talk about “welcoming” it and “considering” it and “reviewing” it – one sees an array of further committees to join those which came out of the Muir Report, which itself called for change. Those and such as those will be formed up in groups to create further reports and then there will be implementation groups, and all of these groups will consist, as ever, of civil servants, academics, Cosla officials, union reps and maybe the odd representative of the Scottish Youth Parliament who will, as time passes, lose their youth; the process will take years.

Scottish education is currently in a difficult place, but significant change is coming (Picture: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

In terms of actual practical suggestions from the current coalition parties, the one that caught the headlines came from Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer, who suggested that, in order to make schools more “joyful” (a recurrent word in the Campbell/Harris report) we should do away with homework in primary schools. That logic defies understanding. If we actually succeeded in making schools “joyful” (my breath remains unheld) then surely children would be delighted to bring some of that joy home? (“Ma! Let me get at those maths problems!”)

So it was left to the opposition to actually suggest some concrete ideas, and there was a pleasing consensus apparent in the contributions, rather different to the usual playground/debating society squabbling which characterises the discourse at Holyrood. The spokespeople on education from the opposition parties – Stephen Kerr (Conservative), Pam Duncan-Glancy (Labour) and Willie Rennie (Lib Dem) all suggested actual practical ways forward and so did many of their colleagues and some government backbenchers. There was much amicable agreement.

This being the case, I urge the opposition parties to produce a policy document, which takes on board these three important reports, and which is, perhaps, constructed in consultation with their writers, and which actually suggests some concrete ways forward: practical, costed ideas which they can present jointly to parliament.

The opposition parties seem to know what they’re about but let me suggest a few possible places to start:

a huge development in vocational education, following the demand for ‘flexible pathways’ in both reports, with clear parity with the academic route;
an urgent review of the “presumption of mainstreaming “(Profs Campbell and Harris want schools to be ‘safe’ and ‘inclusive’ – I suspect that a little less inclusiveness would lead to a lot more safety);
paying teachers to do extra-curricular activities, to revitalise sport and drama and music in those schools (by no means all) where they have faded away;
creating a structure for decision-making in schools which is a whole lot simpler and gives far greater autonomy to head teachers;
and, vitally, the introduction of an extra year of play-based learning before our children start formal education, a policy with which everybody – including the SNP conference – agrees.

That’s five; I could go on and on. Essentially, it’s time for the opposition to take the lead here. These reports are a valuable basis for action. Let’s make sure they don’t fester on a shelf ’til today’s children are parents themselves, and our schools are really broken.

Cameron Wyllie writes a blog called A House in Joppa. His book, Is There A Pigeon in the Room? My Life in Schools, is published by Birlinn.

Struggling Scottish education is set for its biggest shake-up since Curriculum for Excellence. Here's five ways to improve our schools – Cameron Wyllie

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