Scottish Conservatives unveil plans to raise ‘plummeting’ school standards

Tory education spokesperson Miles Briggs and the SNP’s John Swinney.

by Lucy Ashton

The Scottish Conservatives have today announced plans to restore Scotland’s education system to its previous world-leading position after years of decline under the SNP.

Education spokesperson Miles Briggs said that the Scottish Conservatives would reintroduce academic rigour to classrooms through a tailored package of policies, including:

• Bringing back the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy
• Protecting traditional exam-based learning as the fairest assessment model
• Introducing a new workforce plan to return Scottish education to its former standing
• Increasing the number of school inspections
• Working with teachers looking for full-time employment to fill vacancies in rural schools
• Delivering additional support for learning by funding 1,000 extra classroom assistants
• Ensuring our schools are ready to return to the international league tables from which the SNP withdrew
• Ensuring school buildings are fit for purpose

Under the SNP, Briggs said, school standards had been “fatally undermined” and fallen to the point where ministers withdrew from international comparison tables.

On key measures such as literacy and numeracy, Scotland now lags behind other parts of the UK.

As education secretary, John Swinney faced two separate votes of no confidence, while the attainment gap between the best- and worst-off pupils, on which Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to be judged, remains stubbornly wide.

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Miles Briggs said: “Scotland’s education system used to be world-leading, but that reputation has been fatally undermined by decades of SNP mismanagement.

“Our proposals would restore the standing of our schools by focusing on key skills like literacy and numeracy, tested by exams and measured by increased inspections.

“We would make sure that schools are prepared for the international comparison studies that the SNP had withdrawn from, and deliver additional support by funding 1,000 extra classroom assistants.

“There are thousands of teachers looking for full-time, permanent work in Scotland, but rural areas often find it difficult to attract the teachers they need, so we’d work to match schools with those looking for posts. We would also introduce a workforce plan to address shortages in particular subjects.

“From their failure to close the attainment gap for the most disadvantaged pupils, to plummeting standards and a rising tide of classroom violence, the SNP has trashed our schools.

“These common-sense plans would help undo the damage the Nationalists have done. That’s why voters must back the Scottish Conservatives on the peach ballot to stop an SNP majority.”