Paul Godzik: We can't neglect the future

On Thursday the council pushed through proposals to close two nurseries, while debate continues over plans to strip many of our most experienced teachers out of schools. It's fair to say that I feel education in the city is going backwards.

Figures published in December showing that the gap between the best and worst performing high schools is widening, plus news that youth unemployment figures are amongst the worst in Scotland, should act as a wake-up call to the city council.

Yet, far from attempting to address these issues, the recent council budget sees the very real prospect of exacerbating them.

We risk creating a 'lost generation', similar to the cycle of poverty and unemployment that scarred Thatcher's Britain.

There is no doubt that we have many excellent schools, with a dedicated workforce and some fantastic facilities, thanks to the investment by the previous Labour council. Yet across Edinburgh, many schools are performing below average. Edinburgh is now below the national average in Standard Grade results, and with regard to Higher grades, there is a vast disparity - our highest performing school achieves more than 50 per cent of pupils passing three or more, but our lowest school sits at zero per cent.

While there are complex reasons for this disparity, I see no real desire within the administration to tackle this.

As head teachers have stated, planned budget cuts on principal teachers and management support put at risk the smooth introduction of the new curriculum and will 'impact on raising attainment'.

Budget cuts mean there is also no getting away from the fact that there are some very difficult decisions to be made. Yet if we fail to invest in our children and young people, then we will fail to emerge strongly from this downturn.

Councillor Paul Godzik is Labour's education spokesman at Edinburgh City Council