An expert international panel has begun its scrutiny of Scottish Government plans to improve the education system.
The ten members of the new International Council of Education Advisers heard from pupils and teachers as they met for the first time at Windygoul Primary School in Tranent.
The panel was joined by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney at the start of two days of meetings and school and college visits in East Lothian and Edinburgh.
READ MORE: Leafy suburb primary recovers from poor inspection report
The new group was set up after May's Scottish Parliament elections to scrutinise plans aimed at closing the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils in Scotland's schools.
It includes members from the US, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Malaysia, Australia and the UK.
Ms Sturgeon said: "The ten members of the International Council of Education Advisers have extensive experience advising governments around the world on school improvement.
"Education is this government's top priority and I am delighted to welcome the panel to Scotland to showcase the strengths of our education system and hear their thoughts on our plans for reform.
READ MORE: Call for European student exchange scheme to be saved
"The Deputy First Minister has set out the actions we will take to substantially close the attainment gap and deliver a world-class education system in Scotland.
"The international council will bring a global perspective to this work, scrutinising our plans against the backdrop of their substantial expertise and ensuring we learn lessons from other parts of the world."
The panel includes Professor Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan chair in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and a member of the OECD team that recently reviewed Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence reforms.
READ MORE: Leafy suburb primary recovers from poor inspection report
He said: "The International Council of Education Advisers will do everything it can to offer some of the best evidence and insights from around the world, and to give candid and constructive feedback on the government's own proposals and evolving directions.
"This a chance for all of us, together, to help Scotland lead the world in improving educational excellence and equity in ways that preserve and promote the richness of learning and the excitement of teaching."
The first formal meeting of the panel will take place at Bute House on Wednesday and will be chaired by Ms Sturgeon.
The international experts are also due to visit Holy Rood RC High School in Edinburgh where they will meet with Mr Swinney, discuss the forthcoming schools governance review and agree future actions.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel