YOU report that “teaching unions ... raise concerns that they [standardised national tests] are being used to assess the quality of teaching rather than helping pupils” (“Fearful teachers threaten boycott of new tests”, The Herald, September 22). I take that to mean teachers and their unions object to being judged on the quality of the work they produce.

Anecdotal evidence (I am an ex-pupil, a parent, uncle and grandfather) leads me to suspect that teachers are, to a degree, unaccountable for their end product and that, all too frequently, the hierarchy in schools is cosy and ineffectual. Surely it’s a grand idea that teachers should be judged along with their pupils?

My background is industrial engineering and I was required to visit plants where the end product and its efficiency had been deemed by the board of directors to be substandard. I would have been giving a rare old-fashioned look if I had simply judged the end product and not those who produced it: the operatives and senior management.

Reputable industries demand high standards of efficiency and quality because the bottom line and their reputation depend upon it; when it is not achieved heads roll. That does not seem to be the case in education where one rarely hears of a dismissal or demotion at any level.

It is the practice in industry not to promote strong performers to senior positions on the same site when this can be avoided but, all too often, teachers in a school are promoted to become deputy heads of department, heads of department, deputy headteachers and, ultimately, heads of school.

There is no distance between the managers and the workers so sentimentality and friendship can preclude sound judgment and, from what I hear, it frequently does. Teaching then becomes a sinecure. Yes, I know the work is hard, the hours long and the pupils stressful but the job is safe and the pension is generous.

A note to the Scottish Government: Please do judge the teachers along with the pupils and act swiftly and courageously when some are found to be ineffectual; all our futures depend upon it.

Ian M Forrest,

Dalveen, Garvock Road,

Laurencekirk.