'Send pupils to Finnishing school'

A LEADING education expert has said that Scotland stands at a crossroads of whether to adopt a Nordic education system without testing or an English one of increased exams and league tables.

Peter Mortimore, a former director of London University's Institute of Education, urged Scotland to look to Finland, which he said, focuses on "equity" and is "very democratic".

He said Scotland had a choice of following the "Nordic route" or "ape the testing, league tables and market route chosen by English politicians".

North of the Border, education is already be on the Nordic route, he said, after the introduced of the new school Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland last year.

He described the approach of Nordic nations as "more patient", with pupils not starting school until six in Norway and Denmark and seven in Finland.

Finland regularly tops international comparative studies and has been held up as an example to aspire to by both UK ministers and Scotland's education minister, Mike Russell.

Professor Mortimore slammed the English system as dominated by a "terrible, retrograde, neo-liberal approach" characterised by lack of trust in teachers and loss of power to local authorities".

"This might have been suitable for a Victorian economy but is not sensible for a modern country," he added.

Professor Mortimore praised countries such as Finland for not having an emphasis on exams, which meant children were not told they were failures. "They have not been told they are bad learners and they flourish as they get older," he added.

Walter Humes, visiting professor of education at Stirling University, said the latest election result made it likely Scotland would follow a Nordic route.

He said: "The SNP will seek to take education in the direction of the Scottish democratic tradition, whereas the English tradition is much more stratified and varied."

Writing in The Scotsman after visiting Finland last year, education secretary Mike Russell, said: "What I saw two weeks ago in Finland convinced me that getting a broad national consensus on ensuring the highest quality of teaching would be a worthwhile prize; as would having confidence in the professionalism of teachers and giving them the tools to evaluate and improve their teaching."