THE Scottish Tories clearly think they are on to something in launching an attack on the SNP’s handling of school inspections. Highlighting figures that show there are 66 inspectors in Scotland compared to 80 when the SNP came to power, the Conservatives said inspections were vital for parents to make informed decisions but that many children could go through all their years in class without their school ever being assessed.
To add to the Tories’ case, the figures have emerged just weeks after it was revealed the number of inspections has also fallen in the last ten years. In 2004/5, there were 491 inspections, but in 2015/16 there will be only 148 – which represents a drop of 70 per cent.
However you look at them, those figures are proof of a big fall. But the bald numbers do not tell the whole story. For a start, Education Scotland, which is responsible for inspections, has pointed out that some inspectors have been diverted to helping out with Curriculum for Excellence and that, once that is bedded in, inspections will start to increase again.
But Education Scotland is also piloting some promising changes in how inspections are conducted, including the idea of focusing resources on the schools with the greatest need and looking not just at the school but the whole educational experience including nurseries and colleges. There will also be more “surprise” inspections that would give schools just two days’ notice instead of two weeks.
The reforms will obviously have to be tested in schools, but they could deliver a much better and more detailed impression of where schools are doing well and where they are not. But even a reformed regime will need to keep the central focus on individual schools and how they are performing. And, whatever happens, it needs staff. The Government has said the number of inspections will increase again in the near future – it is a promise that must be kept.
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 here