A third of Nicola Sturgeon’s education plans ‘delayed, diverted or ducked
Athird of Nicola Sturgeon’s education targets have been “delayed, diverted or ducked” despite her claims it is her top priority, Ruth Davidson has said.
The Scottish Conservative leader highlighted an SNP government “report card” that showed the deadlines for 23 of its 75 initiatives to improve the schools system have been missed.
Among the schemes she said had been “kicked into the long grass” were proposals to encourage more high-quality graduates into teaching, a drive to improve the inspection regime and a plan for more headteachers.
Ms Sturgeon frantically consulted John Swinney, the Education Minister and her deputy, as Ms Davidson used First Minister’s Questions asked her about the delayed initiatives.
However, she struggled to provide specific responses to the Scottish Tory leader’s questions, instead arguing that her government was “taking a range of action across all these issues.”
The exchanges during the final First Minister’s Questions of 2017 came after it emerged this week that primary pupils in Moray may have to attend school part-time thanks to a “grave” shortage of teachers.
Headteachers have started using a new attainment fund to start reversing the sharp decline in teacher numbers under the SNP, recruiting 500 more, but there are still around 3,500 fewer than when the Nationalists came to power in 2007.
Ms Davidson said: “Nicola Sturgeon has made great play of the claim education is her number one priority. But when you go through 75 actions the Scottish Government specifically identified to improve education last year, it turns out a third have been delayed, dropped or ducked.
“All the while, schools across the country are struggling to recruit teachers, and pupils are suffering as a result. Parents and teachers will look at these failings and conclude the First Minister is simply not living up to the commitment she’s made on education.”
Ms Davidson analysed the contents of the Scottish Government’s 2018 National Improvement Framework, published last week , which listed the 75 actions plans set out by ministers over the past two years and progress on delivery.
She told MSPs a specialist programme to recruit graduates into priority teaching subjects, due to be in place in summer 2017, has recruited no one as it has not yet been set up.
The Scottish Tory leader also disclosed that a new standards framework to help improve school inspections, promised for June 2017, had not been delivered and the deadline was missed for an action plan to encourage more teachers to step up into head roles.
In a direct challenge to Ms Sturgeon, she said: “Famously, the First Minister started this year again insisting that education would be her number one priority. At the end of the year, does she really think it looks that way?”
Ms Sturgeon responded: “Yes I do. Over the last year we’ve seen more than 500 additional teachers go into education. That takes us to the highest level of teachers in our schools since 2011.
“Through the 11 new routes into teaching by the end of January we’ll have an additional 280 students in teaching because of that.” She said there was also a bursary scheme to attract teachers into science and mathematics and a headteacher leadership programme.
She added: “We are a government taking a range of actions to make sure that we are improving education and closing the attainment gap.”
The Telegraph
