The SNP will now implement their second knee-jerk, panic measure to address the disastrous drop in educational standards during their eight years of control. Snap inspections of schools ("Surprise inspections for schools in radical revamp", The Herald, September 21) will have no impact whatsoever on literacy and numeracy standards but will certainly increase the pressure on hard pressed teachers, just as throwing money at disparate projects in a few specific locations will make no difference.
There are deep-seated problems with the curriculum and teaching strategies in Scottish schools which should have been obvious to inspectors regardless of how much time schools have to prepare. The fact that HMI failed utterly to identify the failings during the normal inspection process is testament to an increasingly flawed system. Inspectors simply identify how closely or otherwise schools are following the political edicts of the SNP. Schools that attempt to hold the line on standards are unlikely to win many Brownie points for trying.
The brow beating of teachers into adopting methods doomed to failure, in combination with a school inspectorate which blindly follows the bidding of political rather than educational masters, has resulted in an education system that is seriously failing many children, particularly those already disadvantaged by their social or financial circumstances.
Springing inspections on schools will make no difference to any of this. It is time for the SNP to acknowledge their abject failure in relation to education and effect a root and branch recovery programme to restore faith, and high standards, to the system.
Carole Ford,
Former President, School Leaders Scotland,
132 Terregles Ave,
Glasgow.
The news that school inspections will be ''surprise'' inspections with little or no warning is of no great import. What is much more relevant is the standard of the inspection .
During my years teaching in secondary schools my department was ''inspected'' several times in different schools by a gentleman who brought to mind the old Latin phrase ''Quis custodiet ipsos custodes ? '' .
He was tardy, forgetful, unpleasant to staff and pupils alike and appeared out of touch with the realities of life in the classroom and yet for a period of more than 20 years was giving his judgment on individuals, departments and schools .
Fortunately he was not representative of HMIE but it was deeply worrying that such an individual, with all his blatant faults and peculiarities, should remain in a position of influence for so long.
James Mills,
29 Armour Square,
Johnstone.
I was interested to note the remarks from Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education, that “…our continued investment in support for STEM teaching, learning and skills development at school, college, university and beyond is paying off with increased Higher entrants and passes in these subjects.” ("Half of girls aged 12 think science and maths are too tough", The Herald, September 17.)
I do not know what baseline the Cabinet Secretary was using but the most recent attainment data published by the Scottish Qualifications Authority in the summer shows that between 2014 and 2015 the number of learners presenting for Highers in the sciences and mathematics has declined. Computing-related (including Information Systems) presentations are down by 15.4%; Chemistry is down by 4.6 per cent; Physics is down by 4.2 per cent; Biology is down by 4.1 per cent; and Mathematics is down by 3.6 per cent.
There is a need to remain vigilant to any unintended consequences of schools’ curriculum models. A prominent example of this relates to the number of qualification courses that can be taken by learners in S4. While we would not argue that this is the result of any conscious policy decision, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Learned Societies’ Group on Scottish Science Education are concerned about the potential for narrowing of the curriculum and the implications for study in the sciences and mathematics in the senior years at school.
Professor Sally Brown,
Convener, Royal Society of Edinburgh Education Committee,
22-26 George Street,
Edinburgh.
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