SNP in class size mess
SNP cuts are causing local authorities to abandon key class size targets that have proven to be effective in tackling literacy and numeracy difficulties.
At least four of Scotland’s 32 councils are no longer following guidelines introduced by Labour of capping pupil numbers at 20 in English and Maths in the first two years of secondary school.
East Ayrshire and Fife, which are both SNP-led, Argyll and Bute, which is ruled by a coalition of the SNP and independents, and Labour-run Midlothian, have all decided not to pursue the policy, brought in for English and mathematics classes as part of a drive to raise standards in basic skills.
Labour’s Education spokesman Des McNulty said:
“Reductions in class sizes in primary in SNP-run East Ayrshire has been at the expense of pupils in S1 and S2.
“The First Minister himself has praised East Ayrshire, but was he aware that the shameful neglect of secondary pupils was prompted by the council’s efforts to deliver his scaled down pledge on primary class sizes?
“The start of secondary school is a key time for children to solidify their literacy skills and recent research shows that two-thirds of Scottish pupils fail to achieve expected standards of reading and writing in the early years of secondary.
“The idea you take resources away from S1 and S2 when all the evidence shows this is one of the most vulnerable areas seems to me to be completely wrong.”
Eileen Prior, executive director of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, told the Herald:
“There are arguments that the reductions in class sizes in
primary are valid, and parents would be sympathetic to the view that early intervention in a child’s life is important,” she said.
“However, parents who have children in secondary school will be wondering why this is being put to one side for progress on class sizes in primary.
“Those with a vulnerable youngster in S1 or S2 will be particularly concerned about the impact on their education.”
Ronnie Smith, general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, the country’s largest teaching union, blamed the discrepancies on the concordat – the mechanism set up by the Scottish Government to deliver policies through councils.
“Some local authorities, with the apparent approval of the Scottish Government, are choosing which particular class size reduction commitments – primary or secondary – they choose to work towards,” he said.
“Other local authorities are choosing to ignore national commitments to reduce class sizes completely, with the Scottish Government seemingly powerless to compel councils to work toward these commitments. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the Scottish Government’s chosen method of delivering class size reductions just isn’t working.”
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