Editorial
Classroom politics 28 September 2009 Today the embattled education minister, Fiona Hyslop, will present the Scottish Government’s School Estate Strategy. It’s been a difficult time for Hyslop, under fire over so many things including: class sizes, teacher numbers and delivery of Curriculum for Excellence. More than once the Opposition has called for her to go and today will offer her no succour. Holyrood understands that the School Estate Strategy, will only fuel the arguments about where our children are taught rather than what they learn and will finally give Labour the hard evidence that it needs that the SNP’s ideological opposition to PFI is just not practical. It will offer a series of aspirational objectives but without a clear road map of how to get there and will raise questions about the Government’s strategic plan for education and how it can be delivered. Basically, Hyslop will announce that 14 new secondary schools are to be built as part of a £1.25bn building programme. This will be welcome news to the local authorities who have been waiting for some years for building to start but the devil is in the detail. The funding for those schools identified as most in need of replacement will come from capital funding – government money – and Hyslop will confirm that she has Cabinet approval for this. The much awaited Scottish Futures Trust will manage the project but simply be the gatekeeper, if you like, of an initial construction programme that it has not raised the money for or selected the beneficiaries of. It will be a surprise to most that the first big construction announcement that the SNP Government makes doesn’t actually have SFT at its helm. And Holyrood also understands that the Government will this week release the most up-to-date statistics about schools in need of replacement. Ridiculously, it is expected to reveal that these will supersede the schools identified for action by the Education Minister only days before. And despite all the First Ministerial bravado in FMQs about school building programmes there will still be fundamental questions to be answered not just about the funding of this first tranche but when the work will actually start and be completed, with speculation that this could be delayed for years. No doubt, there will be much ammunition for the Opposition in all of this and no doubt further calls for the ‘hapless Hyslop’ to stand down but it diverts from the serious issue of what we teach our children rather than where. Scotland’s reputation as a world leader in education has slipped and predates the SNP Government and any of its broken promises. International league tables now list us alongside third world countries and the fact that spend per pupil has doubled in the ten years since devolution but attainment has barely improved, means that we have now been overtaken by England. Parents disgruntled by years of neglect under all administrations in the Scottish Parliament have voted with their feet. When they can afford it and have the inclination, they have enrolled their children in independent schools or taken the legal route to force local authorities to let their child in to the school of their choice. Education, like health, commands enormous budget commitments and that is right as a principle but not when good money is being thrown after bad. Our politicians spend more time arguing over bricks and mortar than they do over whether children can read or write. Isn’t the quality of how you are taught more important than the quality of the building you are taught in? Parents should not be faced with having to send their child to a poor performing school. Every child has the right to equal access of opportunity in a state-funded education system so let’s have that debate. Politicians have travelled so far away from the issue, so caught up in arguing over manifesto promises, that they haven’t taken the time to consider whether smaller class sizes or even modern, newly built classrooms are actually the best means to improve education with limited resources. Policies (especially such costly ones) should be evidence based and these ones are not conclusive. And if we are talking about best use of limited funds or even how to access funds to build spanking new schools then maybe it is worth considering that oneto- one support for pupils who are struggling might be more effective than smaller classes across the board and you could deliver that from your front room. Holyrood Magazine - issue 219 | Next article Related articles: The crazy cuts competition 5 September 2010 Unavoidable truth 25 June 2010 Cashing in on confusion 11 June 2010 A bridge too far 28 May 2010 When two become one 17 May 2010 See all articles in this category Submit a comment |
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