THE imposition of new tests on Scottish primary school pupils will be a untenable unless teachers and parents are involved, ministers have been told.

Stephen Curran, Glasgow City Council's executive member for education, issued the warning after some form of national testing came a step closer.

Last week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon paved the way for the introduction of standardised assessments of primary school pupils during a major speech in Edinburgh, saying better and more reliable data was needed to assess performance in classrooms.

She said that the creation of league tables - a prominent part of the education system south of the border - was not the aim of the reforms but accepted that the creation of unofficial rankings would be a consequence of releasing information into the public domain.

Mr Curran said the policy would be undeliverable unless there was full consultation with parents and teaching unions.

He said: "There is a real issue that the Government could be asking staff to test for its own sake to try and show that the Government is doing well when in fact it is how young people are performing as a comparison to the school in previous years and other similar schools nationally that is important.

"That is not necessarily about having a national test that is useful to ministers because it takes up time in the classroom and it takes up the time of staff who should be working with the young people more.

"Ministers are trying to quickly show some sort of evidence on the attainment gap, but this isn't going to work if it is seen as an extra layer of bureaucracy and

there is a risk that if we are not taking staff and parents with us then testing primary pupils will just be seen as a diktat from central government and that will not be welcomed and it will not lead to improvements."

Mr Curran also called on minister to ensure education budgets were kept at a sufficient level to ensure current standards were not eroded.

"If there is a real pressure on budgets then even with the additional money from the attainment fund then that will undermine all our efforts to close the gap," he added.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “As the First Minister said last week, an announcement on the National Improvement Framework will be made in the Programme for Government next month.

"The Framework will provide clarity on what we are seeking to achieve and allow us to measure clearly where we’re succeeding and where we still need to do more.

“In developing the framework we will consult with teachers, parents and their children, as well as all relevant partners in education and their input will be welcomed.”

The current debate around the reintroduction of national testing for primary pupils in Scotland dates back to the publication of a survey of literacy in April this year.

The biennial Scottish Survey of Literacy - ironically introduced after the scrapping of national tests - found standards of reading and writing were falling despite the introduction of the Curriculum for Excellence, which was expected to raise basic standards.

Against a growing clamour for the reintroduction of national testing from the Scottish Conservatives, Ms Sturgeon accepted that a national system would "allow us to measure clearly where we're succeeding and where we need to do more".