Bill Nicol

Recent independent reports, including ones by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Commission on School Reform, By Diverse Means: Improving Scottish Education, 2013, show Scotland’s education system, once ranked amongst the best in the world, has fallen behind many other countries including England.

Serious concerns about Scottish educational standards have been expressed by employers and academics as well as worried parents; these concerns must be addressed. Not only must we deploy both innovative and proven solutions to improve the quality of state education in Scotland, we must do this as quickly as possible. Every day lost in barren consultations to placate vested interests will result in even more young people having to leave school without the tools they need to make a success of their lives.

Hometown Education Learning Partnerships (Help) was born out of a major project by the Hometown Foundation, a registered charity, to build a £500 million co-operative settlement in South Lanarkshire. The new town, which would have been owned and managed by its residents and called Owenstown, in memory of Robert Owen, is presently in limbo due to planning constraints.

Robert Owen was the world renowned 18th-century founder of the co-operative movement in New Lanark. The Owenstown concept included two primary schools, a secondary school and a centre for research. This would have allowed academic research to take place in conjunction with inclusive, affordable and progressive schools.

Of all the specialities that were required to create Owenstown, education was regarded as the most crucial. We spent a great deal of time in consultation with educational experts at home and overseas to make sure we got this aspect right.

The foundation firmly believes a good quality and inclusive education, irrespective of religion, background or wealth, forms the foundation of every successful society. It is vitally important we draw on the best practices from wherever to ensure that not only can we keep up with our competitors but we can help our children to achieve more prosperous and fulfilling lives as well.

Help has investigated different ways to improve the overall provision of education in Scotland. This includes a scheme for pupils to get cost-effective additional tutoring on a co-operative basis, rather than on their own, and a training facility to help teachers attain higher levels of proficiency and confidence within a supportive environment. However, our main priority at present is to help parents form autonomous schools to put teaching professionals in charge of schools.

A significant part of Scottish education’s problems relate to areas of responsibility. At present, direct responsibility for raising standards and improving education does not reside with the school or the headteacher. Funds are passed from the Scottish Government to local authorities to provide education and raise standards. Yet local authorities do not actually contribute at the "coal face" and cannot be made fully accountable. This loop adds bureaucracy and cost and can prove highly problematical.

There is clear and growing evidence that autonomous schools deliver a range of benefits. They first of all give headteachers greater control whilst bringing parents, teachers and the local community closer together. This makes the provision of education much more of a combined effort and helps parents to become involved and more responsible for their own child’s success and good behaviour. Local businesses can also join in by providing prompt and cost-effective goods and services to these schools.

Help is currently working with St Joseph’s in Milngavie to form a community partnership school which will be run by its headteacher supported by a local board of management. This will allow qualified professionals to use innovative methods to improve both academic and non-academic competencies. The aspiration is to deliver better outcomes for pupils, parents, the local community and taxpayers alike.

We are encouraged that the Scottish Government is now holding advanced discussions with the St Joseph’s Parent Group. Help is also now speaking to other parent groups who want a better education for their own children. We are keen that as many of these groups as possible get in contact so that we may help them. The foundation will work with and support any group which shares its core belief that every child deserves the best possible start in life irrespective of background, religion, wealth or ethnicity.

Bill Nicol is the Director of Hometown Education Learning Partnerships