THERE is a perplexing positivity about Education Scotland’s response to parents concerned about “diluted” school inspections. Perhaps they know something that the parents don’t. Less is more? Never mind the depth, feel the quantity?
Last year, Education Scotland proudly announced that the number of annual school inspections would rise from 180 to 250. Now it looks like the price to be paid is shorter visits. Normally, inspections last up to week and focus on four key indicators. Now, over half will last two days and focus on two key indicators.
Education Scotland says the short visits are just as “robust” in their scrutiny as the long ones, though it is unclear on the face of it how this can be possible. Perhaps the visits are more focused or efficient but, if so, Education Scotland needs to reassure parents about that. For its part, the National Parent Forum of Scotland fears that shorter inspections are giving snapshots rather than the full picture.
In 2017, Scotland had 2,019 primary and 360 secondary schools. In 2011-12, inspections moved from a generational cycle to a sampling model, and recent figures revealed one in five schools had not been inspected for a decade or more. As the Tories’ Liz Smith points out, that means children could go through primary or secondary education without their school ever being inspected. This sounds far from ideal, and suggests a review of the current approach is necessary.
No doubt, Education Scotland is doing the best it can. The organisation’s core budget has been cut from £21.5 million to £20.5m, and the number of inspectors has dropped from 80 to 69. But inspections are essential to ensure standards are being maintained. They’re not an option or luxury. The agency maintains it is doing just fine by grading, in its words, “a fewer number of quality indicators”. Clearly, they are expecting the benefit of the doubt. But parents are doubting the benefits.
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