DR Gerald Edwards (Letters, December 30) continues his tirades against the Scottish Government by yet again trashing the record of our public services. I feel that his criticisms are quite unfair. Of course, in large organisations there will be faults and failings, but these need to be set against the levels of service that are being provided by our dedicated staff. It is of course shocking that three Scottish teachers have had to be compensated recently for attacks perpetrated by pupils ("Compensation bill totals £105,000 after three teachers are attacked by pupils", The Herald, December 30) but these regrettable incidents have to be balanced against the thousands of positive interactions that take place every day in our school classrooms.
Dr Edwards described Scottish education as "being in meltdown". Where is his evidence for this apart from the recent Pisa figures, which are very limited in what they have to say about performance in our Scottish schools?
Has he examined figures for school attendance or school exclusions? What about leaver destinations, national exam results or the successful integration of pupils with additional needs? Are these really "in meltdown"?
Does he take any cognisance of the richness of school extra-curricular programmes or the opportunities for community service and work experience? What about the opinions of employer organisations? In my day there were regular complaints from these bodies of pupils not being able to spell or to do simple calculations. Do we still read of these? How many Scottish schools are in special measures? How many Scottish headteachers have been dismissed or disciplined for underperformance or gross misconduct? How many Scottish teachers have been struck off by the General Teaching Council? Has he considered the very positive opinions of pupils and parents consistently recorded in the published school HMIE reports?
This is the sort of hard evidence that requires to be interrogated before dismissing the efforts of our teachers and pupils in such a cavalier fashion. Of course, there are difficulties and challenges, but let us remember that schools are working against a background of relentless austerity.
It is a cruel fact of life for our schools that thousands of Scottish families are struggling with the financial pressures of Universal Credit and low wages. It is truly shocking that so many of our children are coming to school poorly clad and hungry and this at a time when the wealthiest members of our society flaunt their riches and manage to avoid paying their taxes.
Our teachers and pupils deserve much credit for what they are achieving. Scottish education definitely is not "in meltdown".
Eric Melvin, Edinburgh EH10.
I AGREE with Alexander McKay (Letters, January 1) that the Scottish Government should bang some heads together on the state of our hospitals, education and, I would add, transport. The focus of the Scottish Government should be on running Scotland as efficiently as possible. I would contend that the Scottish Government should try to operate as if Scotland was an independent country with control over all the aspects of its affairs.
Sandy Gemmill, Edinburgh EH3.
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