CHILDREN in some parts of Scotland receive two years less state education than in other parts due to a huge variance in the number of hours of teaching time offered by local authorities.
Research by the think tank Reform Scotland found that the amount of time spent with a teacher can vary by almost 150 hours at primary school level a year, and 245 at secondary school level.
When applied across a child's total school life this adds up to more than 24 months of classroom time, according to data supplied following a Freedom on Information request.
Aberdeenshire Council and West Dunbartonshire Council offer the most teaching time in Scotland, with 1,000 hours per year in primary school and 1,100 hours per year in secondary school.
By contrast, Moray offers the least primary school time, at 851 hours, whilst Dundee and Midlothian offer 855 hours of secondary school teaching.
Glasgow pupils receive 975 hours of school at primary level and 1072 at secondary, roughly similar to those in Edinburgh.
Reform Scotland said that it recognised the importance of local authorities setting the level of teaching hours, in line with education budgets and pupils needs.
But the think tank called for more transparency for parents who may be in the dark over the variations in teaching hours across Scotland.
Reform Scotland’s Research Director Alison Payne said: “We were surprised by the huge variation in hours exposed by our findings. We do not object to the variation in hours per se, because we believe that local authorities, and indeed individual schools, should have more control over their operation.
“However, we strongly object to the lack of transparency which appears to prevent parents from gaining full knowledge of this situation.
“We seriously doubt, for example, that many parents in Dundee will realise that their children will receive the equivalent of two years less teaching time than their peers just up the road in Aberdeenshire.
“This is unfair, unequal and wrong, because it prevents parents from making choices with the full information in mind.”
Scottish Conservative young people spokeswoman Liz Smith agreed with the need for mums and dads to be give the full picture, saying that the research was likely to "disturb" parents.
She added: “School contact time does not necessarily correlate with the quality of education on offer but two years is a very substantial difference.
“Reform Scotland is quite correct to say that there should be full transparency over this. Parents have a right to know about these differences, particularly if any evidence emerges to suggest that fewer hours are having a detrimental effect on pupil performance.”
However, Councillor Stephanie Primrose, education spokeswoman for the local authority umbrella organisation COSLA, said that there was no "magic number" of teaching hours per week, and that councils needed autonomy in deciding educational policies.
She said: “We really have to get away from simplistic input measures and be mature enough to focus on outcomes. We are unaware of any evidence which establishes a direct link between time spent in school and how well pupils perform. A host of other factors, including how children are taught in school have a much bigger impact on learning.
"Councils are always willing to hear suggestions on ways to improve or listen to any meaningful contributions to the education debate and it would have been more helpful if the Think Tank presented a more thoughtful educational analysis of the issue rather than just presenting the raw data collected from FOI returns.
"This seems less about shedding light on an issue and more about seeking headlines days before the school year starts.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “There is no evidence in this research or elsewhere that children are not getting enough contact time with teachers during the school day, week or year. There is therefore no indication that any child’s learning experience has been compromised by the variations highlighted in this report.
“Local authorities have a statutory duty to be open for 190 days each year and it is for councils to determine the length and structure of the individual school day, week or year, taking account of local circumstances.
"Clearly, any proposed change to the school week should be subject to consultation involving schools, parents and the wider community.”
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