Once again, the Scottish Government stands accused of ditching a key manifesto pledge.

Once again, the Scottish Government stands accused of ditching a key manifesto pledge.

Promises made by the SNP to write off student debt, replace council tax, give £2000 to first-time home buyers and channel Scottish Enterprise money into the arts have all failed to materialise.

Now, ministers are in the dock over a key education commitment to reduce class sizes, leaving parents across Scotland mystified over what to expect from their local schools.

A confidential policy paper leaked to The Herald shows that ministers and local authorities have been drawing up plans that appear to undermine the commitment made in 2007 to reduce class sizes to 18 in the first three years of primary.

The proposals, which have been endorsed by Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, and John Swinney, the Finance Secretary, suggest that councils facing difficult local circumstances could actually avoid pursuit of the targets in some schools.

"The discussion would recognise that every council will be in a different situation and that the pace of pursuit of class size reduction ... will vary from council to council," the report states.

"It will allow councils to outline very local considerations, like the ability to pursue this policy in some parts of the council area, but not in others."

In addition, the paper, prepared by local authority umbrella group Cosla for its annual convention paves the way for the dropping of another SNP manifesto commitment from 2007 to "maintain teacher numbers in the face of falling school rolls and to cut class sizes".

"Maintaining teacher numbers never was and cannot be a commitment and should not be used as a proxy indicator of performance regarding class size reduction," the paper states.

The context for the policy paper is the growing frustration over the pace of delivery of the class size targets which were introduced "to give children more time with their teacher at this vital stage of their development".

The policy was popular with powerful teaching unions who argue that smaller classes also improve discipline. However, once elected, the difficulties inherent in delivering such an ambitious target became clear, with costs estimated at some £105m by 2010-11.

These difficulties were reflected when the concordat agreement with Cosla was signed. There was no definitive timescale for councils to deliver the policy and they were instead charged with meeting the class size targets "as quickly as possible".

Throughout 2008 and 2009 problems over delivery grew. By April 2008, nearly half of local authorities had still not decided how to meet the targets and Glasgow City Council began an open rebellion, stating publicly that it would not be pursuing them.

Then, in October last year, it emerged that more than a third of councils had reduced the number of primary school teachers, despite Ms Hyslop's call for numbers to be maintained.

By February this year the lack of progress was illustrated in official figures which showed just 13% of pupils in the first three years of primary were in class sizes of 18.

The policy paper to today's meeting of Cosla's convention in Clydebank, near Glasgow, shows how public in-fighting has driven the proposals.

"The purpose of this report is to update the convention on a proposal that has been developed in partnership between Cosla's leadership and cabinet secretaries which could help to alleviate some of the tension arising from one of the issues .... which has a corrosive effect on our partnership working: namely, the class size policy," the report states.

"As convention members will be aware, there has been disagreement regarding the very different interpretations of the class size policy.

"Much of this debate has been conducted using very old-fashioned tactics with little or nothing from these discussions suggesting that a new positive and mature partnership has been achieved between national and local government."

Last night, an aide to Ms Hyslop was keen to put a positive spin on developments, suggesting the proposals reflected the genuine difficulties some local authorities were having, but ultimately represented an endorsement of the class size policy.

In addition, he said the commitment to maintaining teacher numbers was a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. "We think that this is the best way to deliver this policy, but if local authorities can deliver it in another way then so be it," he said.

However, opposition politicians and teaching unions like the Educational Institute of Scotland, which has campaigned hard for class sizes to be cut are unlikely to be appeased.

Scottish Labour has already accused the government of reneging on its commitments and Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the EIS, described the policy paper as an attempt to shore up the "crumbling edifice" of the concordat.

What remains unclear is how parents will react.

Much effort has gone into promoting smaller class sizes on the basis that they drive up standards, but the policy is also under threat from a different source.

Last summer, The Herald reported on a series of landmark placing request court cases which ruled that the only class size target underpinned by law is 30. The ruling effectively means councils cannot set binding class sizes beneath this level.

As a result, East Renfrewshire and Edinburgh councils have already announced that they cannot hold classes down in line with the government's aims.

What these court cases also show is the fact that, whatever the benefits of smaller class sizes, parents prefer to send their children to a school of their choice, even if it means they will be taught in larger class sizes.