Scottish schools need to do more to tackle inequalities

19 September 2011

The Scottish education system provides "firm foundations upon which to build", but more needs to be done according to the Scottish Government commissioned McCormac Review. The report concluded that:

"Scotland has still to address longstanding educational issues and is standing still in terms of its relative international performance."

"The gap between the performance of the lowest 20% and the average....has not changed since 1999 and is greater than in comparable countries."

In a recent article for the Scotsman, Policy Director Ross Martin welcomed the Review's findings and argued that standards in Scottish schools have not improved enough. Ross said:

"As the Review starkly puts it, teachers' pay and conditions need to 'strengthen the quality of teaching and leadership' in Scotland's schools, because they have not been."

"In other words, we paid an awful lot of cash for little, if any, improvement in the classroom experience for a generation of pupils. This deficit needs to be addressed."

Complementing McCormac's call for flexibility and reform, Ross recommended that:

• Local circumstances must be allowed to shape the way in which Scotland's schools are organised and run.
• The school calendar is simplified into four equal terms of ten weeks.
• Schools are opened up to a range of other professions to enrich the learning experience of pupils.
• Reform the teaching timetable by moving to an asymmetric week, moving to one half-day by slightly increasing the length of the other four teaching days.
• Abandon national class-size targets which may jeopardise overall teacher quality.

Read the Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland.