SCOTLAND’S results in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) must be taken extremely seriously. They make uncomfortable reading. But we must not lose sight of the fact that there is great strength in Scottish education.

This week’s Pisa assessments were undertaken almost two years ago. Today, we have more pupils learning in new schools, more achieving excellent results and more going on to destinations such as continued education, training or a job.

Also, Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) has been endorsed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), author of the Pisa, in its independent review of Scottish education. It said CfE was bold and provided an opportunity for Scotland to be an education world leader. But it also told us we needed to continue our reforms and be specific in our work to embed the new curriculum.

This Government is doing that. Education is our overriding priority, at the heart of the First Minister’s Programme for Government. Since 2007, we have increased spending on schools by at least £220 million and invested £1.8 billion in 607 school projects through our Schools for the Future programme.

This year, the number of Advanced Higher passes reached a record high while the number of Highers was second only to 2015’s record pass rate. Four out of 10 students from the 20 per cent most deprived areas left school in 2014-15 with at least one Higher or equivalent, double the 2007 rate. The proportion of school leavers in positive destinations reached a record high of 92 per cent in 2014-15.

Nevertheless, I am determined to continue to make the improvements necessary to make Scottish education world class. This requires an unwavering focus on improving our system for every child and we will do that. The OECD review set out five areas in which we needed to improve and we are taking action in each.

To focus on raising the standards for all and closing the gap for our poorest pupils, we have launched the £750m Attainment Programme.To put in place a detailed measurement system that tells us what is working – and what is not working – in our schools, we are gathering teacher judgment information on children’s progress which will be informed by national standardised assessments. Initial data at school and local authority level will be published next Tuesday.

To simplify and clarify the curriculum, we are stripping away thousands of pages of red tape, freeing teachers to teach. To put schools and communities at the heart of the education system, we have launched a review of governance to change the way the system is organised and put parents, teachers and schools in charge.

To develop a new strategy to improve leadership in schools, we are bringing in new programmes to train and develop headteachers. These recommendations form the basis of the reform agenda we are taking forward. Scotland has a good education system, with great teachers and engaged pupils. To suggest otherwise is to do a massive disservice to our young people and teachers. Every time I visit a school, I am impressed and inspired by their enthusiasm and hard work.

The reforms we are taking forward will build on these strengths.They will ensure our teachers focus on improving teaching and learning in our schools. They will see parents empowered to play a more meaningful role in their children’s education and they will deliver a system that promotes collaboration and is focused on improvement.

Our actions will ensure that every child will leave primary school with core skills in reading, writing and numeracy and each will have the opportunity to develop more advanced literacy and numeracy skills in secondary schools. We are consulting on a strategy to raise levels of enthusiasm, skills and knowledge in regard to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Our reform programme is bold, ambitious and, in parts, controversial. A strength of Scotland’s education system has always been its collaborative nature: a sense of national shared endeavour. In light of the Pisa results, it is essential to focus efforts on our improvement agenda to achieve a world-class education system for young people.

John Swinney is Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills.