Herald on Sunday letters: The systemic failure of Scottish education will be with us even after Covid

When the number of parents contemplating transfer of their kids from the state sector to private schools is growing, that must surely ring alarm bells.

They feel that their youngsters will be stretched in private schools, whereas in the state sector mediocrity rules apart from a few exceptions.

Let us look at the purposes of primary schools.

They exist to introduce youngsters to the world of education in the early stages and then to equip them to take the nest step up to secondary level where the teachers expect them to be literate, numerate and computer-literate.

How many times have I heard secondary teachers bemoaning the gaps in knowledge and skills of those transitioning from primary to secondary? This holds back the learning process as the teachers have to spend time on repairing these deficiencies. The most able suffer in such circumstances, held back by either the failure of their primary experience or the concentration by the teachers on the slower learners, leaving the more able kids to tread water and become bored.

This rising damp is seen when pupils gravitate from secondary into the world of work or tertiary education. Employers cannot fathom why their new recruits have not learned to grasp the basics of what makes a worker tick while our tertiary education institutions have to water down their courses because the new intakes are lacking in the basic knowledge and skills, once taken for granted by the higher institutions, which trusted secondaries to send up students soundly grounded in the basics, the solid foundations upon which they could confidently build.

When teachers are forbidden to use red pens to draw attention to mistakes in case it impacts upon the youngsters' self-esteem and are expected to employ a soft discipline in classrooms where the students are organised in groups, this creates a lack of focus and a rise in low-level indiscipline, which eats into teaching time and undermines motivation and the need to pay close attention.

Until a sense of order is restored with a strong emphasis upon cognitive development and understanding, schools will continue to underperform, the consequence being that final exams are dumbed down, leaving the students unprepared for the next level they aspire to.

If the state schools continue to operate in this way under Government guidance, no one should be surprised if there is an exodus of able pupils into the private sector where parents see that progress is built into the system, which the state sector,despite paying lip service to this ideal, has virtually abandoned.

All that stands between a mass exodus of this kind is a likely downturn in the economic circumstances of many families thanks to the effects of Covid and a poor exit deal from the EU.

Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.

A HEADLINE in last Sunday’s edition (November 29) read: “Scots teachers ‘told to switch off tracing app to avoid self-isolation’. Unions claim staff have been pressured to turn off the Bluetooth on mobile phones.”

I turned to the article inside expecting to read the details and evidence. This consisted of a union official saying it happened “..in some areas”. Any names? No. Any schools identified? No. Any council areas identified? No.

Compare this to the reporting, in the same issue, on Donald Trump’s allegations of electoral fraud. “There is no evidence...” states the article. Hardly consistent.

We all know of newspapers who believe that the absence of evidence should not prevent a "good" headline. There is no need for this newspaper to join that club.

Douglas Morton, Lanark.

NO TIME FOR REFERENDUMS

SOMEWHERE in the wings, after the Covid virus protection programme proves successful, there will be buyers ready to snap up the many bargains from businesses that failed over the duration of the epidemic. I dread to think what hell many proprietors and staff have gone through during the epidemic and what their future will be in the aftermath. The UK will struggle with the fallout from both Covid and Brexit, so I think the last thing on Scotland`s mind should be any thought of referendums.

George Dale, Beith.

GIVEAWAY CULTURE IN SCOTLAND CANNOT LAST

ROLL up – it's always a super Black Friday giveaway with the SNP. Forget its long-term failed flagship policy to reduce the educational attainment gap between the rich and poor – focus on the British taxpayer funding a raft of freebies in Scotland. Free period products for all women regardless of financial status, free breakfasts and lunches every day for every primary school child, irrespective of family income, £500 to some (but definitely not other) key workers and free winter payments for low income families.

Anyone who imagines this would be life in an independent Scotland – get real. You misjudge how deep are the pockets of Scotland's 2.5 million taxpayers. But what's beyond doubt is that the SNP is trying to buy our votes in next May's Holyrood election.

Martin Redfern, Melrose.

THE wrangling in the SNP over indyref2 goes on and on ("SNP members told to 'keep the faith' on independence", November 29). After a blatant episode of electioneering give-aways and rewards for some but not others, the SNP is e ignoring the fact that the whole idea of Holyrood was that no one party could "take it over" the way the SNP is trying to do. Where is the democracy in this and where is all the money coming from for these SNP freebies unless via Westminster?

Transparency and fairness is required but this is a commodity in short supply from the current Scottish Government. Just ask teachers or those who used to work in hospitality. There are still a few months to go before the next Holyrood election and despite typical SNP bluster of a massive win it is not only not in the bag, it is very likely not to happen at all. You should never count your chickens before they are hatched.

Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

SLAVERY REVIEW GROUP HAS MADE THE WRONG CHOICE

EDINBURGH City Council has shown poor judgment in appointing Sir Geoff Palmer as the “independent chair” of the Edinburgh Slavery and Colonialism Review Group. There seems to me to be nothing “independent” about him. He has already decided that Henry Dundas contributed to the enslavement of more than 500,000 Africans and ensured that this was included in a plaque now placed at the foot of the Melville Monument. This has been disputed by Scotland’s pre-eminent historian Sir Tom Devine, who has said from his research that it was a “crass error” and that such a claim “does not stand up to serious historical scrutiny” ("How Edinburgh can learn from Toronto’s example to deal with slave trade statues", November 29).

Professor Palmer’s expertise and research achievements have been in the brewing industry where he was highly regarded internationally while teaching at Heriot-Watt University. He is principally a human rights activist today with limited social science research experience which the Review Group requires if it is to be taken seriously.

Rob Melville, Edinburgh.

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP IS LONG GONE

WE were told by Brexiters that a US trade deal would be one of the early benefits of leaving the EU and its customs union, although the economic value of such a deal and the likelihood that agriculture could be left off the table were both questioned.

Over the past four years we were constantly assured the UK was closing in on a trade deal with Donald Trump, but a deathly silence descended over what might happen if the Joe Biden administration with its leftist radicals made it to the White House.

With a move reminiscent of Roosevelt's take-over of Hoover's ideas the minute he gained power, "Plagiarist Joe" is now warbling on about America first, retreating from globalisation, and bringing a recalcitrant China to heel by retaining Donald Trump's tariffs.

In this brave new world we are just an archipelago in the wastes of the North Atlantic made up of various mini-states fighting like rats in a sack. Any special relationship we may like to think we had with the United States is long gone and never included trade.

Dr John Cameron, St Andrews.

DON’T DRIVE DOWN THE ELECTRIC AVENUE

RESEARCH commissioned by Honda, Aston Martin, Bosch and McLaren has shown that the manufacture of electric vehicles generates 63 per cent more carbon dioxide than petrol or diesel models. This means that some electric cars have to be driven for almost 50,000 miles before they are as "green" as cars powered by fossil fuels. Research on Wileyonlinelibrary had similar findings but shows a mileage of 93,000 is needed.

Banning the sale of fossil-fuelled cars from 2030 is a futile draconian measure since Britain has 40 million petrol/diesel cars whereas the world has 7.6 billion. Other countries have neither the intention nor the ability to go all-electric. China has 300m vehicles of which two-thirds are cars. Its share of global emissions is 30%, the UK 1.13%, so taking every UK petrol/diesel car off the roads will not make one iota of difference to the planet.

Clark Cross, Linlithgow.