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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/17/scotland-schools-universities-easier-access-john-swinney
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| Let’s drag Scotland’s education system into the 21st century Let’s drag Scotland’s education system into the 21st century | |
| (2 months later) | |
| It was good to see the Scottish government last week finally accede to the Observer’s polite request, expressed once or twice in the past few years, that pupils from our more disadvantaged areas be granted slightly easier access to university. | It was good to see the Scottish government last week finally accede to the Observer’s polite request, expressed once or twice in the past few years, that pupils from our more disadvantaged areas be granted slightly easier access to university. |
| The phrase “easier access” though, misrepresents and distorts the reality of the daily struggles that pupils from a non-privileged background encounter when trying to reach a Scottish university. There is nothing easy about it. | The phrase “easier access” though, misrepresents and distorts the reality of the daily struggles that pupils from a non-privileged background encounter when trying to reach a Scottish university. There is nothing easy about it. |
| Unlike children who were lucky enough to be born to parents who live in houses with conservatories and mono-block driveways, children from Possil and Easterhouse do not get access to private, at-home tuition. | Unlike children who were lucky enough to be born to parents who live in houses with conservatories and mono-block driveways, children from Possil and Easterhouse do not get access to private, at-home tuition. |
| These children emerge from communities where the urban apocalypse of premature death, disease, unemployment and violent crime can often choke an academic blossoming before it has begun. Thus the student make-up of our top universities and colleges is largely free from one large sector of Scottish society. They reward privilege and wealth and have failed to bend a little to recognise success in adversity. | These children emerge from communities where the urban apocalypse of premature death, disease, unemployment and violent crime can often choke an academic blossoming before it has begun. Thus the student make-up of our top universities and colleges is largely free from one large sector of Scottish society. They reward privilege and wealth and have failed to bend a little to recognise success in adversity. |
| The response to the government’s plans to make access to university fairer was trite and predictable. Universities Scotland, the body which represents 19 institutions, said there would be a consequent “displacement” if more students from disadvantaged backgrounds were to gain access. | The response to the government’s plans to make access to university fairer was trite and predictable. Universities Scotland, the body which represents 19 institutions, said there would be a consequent “displacement” if more students from disadvantaged backgrounds were to gain access. |
| Such a response conveniently fails to recognise that this educational “displacement” theory has exclusively worked against children from poorer areas since comprehensive education was established. | Such a response conveniently fails to recognise that this educational “displacement” theory has exclusively worked against children from poorer areas since comprehensive education was established. |
| If there is now to be a “displacement” of middle-class pupils then so be it. They already have the unfair advantages of private tuition and fee-paying schools that enjoy huge tax breaks. If some of them now have to work a bit harder to get into university then that’s a levelling of the playing field; not a “displacement”. | If there is now to be a “displacement” of middle-class pupils then so be it. They already have the unfair advantages of private tuition and fee-paying schools that enjoy huge tax breaks. If some of them now have to work a bit harder to get into university then that’s a levelling of the playing field; not a “displacement”. |
| The government’s announcement on easier access for poorer students also comes at a time when it seems that Scotland’s system of education is facing its biggest overhaul in 50 years. | The government’s announcement on easier access for poorer students also comes at a time when it seems that Scotland’s system of education is facing its biggest overhaul in 50 years. |
| While all other areas of life in Scotland have been altered, updated or revolutionised to keep pace with technological and cultural changes in society, the way she educates her children has remained motionless in a 1960s time-warp. | While all other areas of life in Scotland have been altered, updated or revolutionised to keep pace with technological and cultural changes in society, the way she educates her children has remained motionless in a 1960s time-warp. |
| Teachers are trained in the same way as they always have been; local authorities get to appoint staff and heads, and none of them will ever be disciplined or relieved of their duties through incompetence or rank unsuitability. The Educational Institute of Scotland is permitted to hold entire educational authorities to ransom, and parents are largely cut out of matters pertaining to their children’s education. | Teachers are trained in the same way as they always have been; local authorities get to appoint staff and heads, and none of them will ever be disciplined or relieved of their duties through incompetence or rank unsuitability. The Educational Institute of Scotland is permitted to hold entire educational authorities to ransom, and parents are largely cut out of matters pertaining to their children’s education. |
| Despite the needs of schools from different socio-economic regions varying drastically, headteachers have very little autonomy to use their funds in the way they deem to be most appropriate. | Despite the needs of schools from different socio-economic regions varying drastically, headteachers have very little autonomy to use their funds in the way they deem to be most appropriate. |
| This antediluvian approach was dismally encapsulated in the words of Jamie Petrie, the head of Broomhouse primary in Edinburgh. “There are few other jobs where the public can tell folk how to do their jobs, yet in schools we are expected to accept this.” | This antediluvian approach was dismally encapsulated in the words of Jamie Petrie, the head of Broomhouse primary in Edinburgh. “There are few other jobs where the public can tell folk how to do their jobs, yet in schools we are expected to accept this.” |
| Rarely has such a short statement contained so much that is wrong and so much that is arrogant. Not only ought schools to work in partnership with parents but there simply isn’t any other area in Scottish public life where “the public” aren’t allowed an opinion. | Rarely has such a short statement contained so much that is wrong and so much that is arrogant. Not only ought schools to work in partnership with parents but there simply isn’t any other area in Scottish public life where “the public” aren’t allowed an opinion. |
| It is this sort of attitude by an out-of-touch teaching establishment in Scotland which has seen education in this country stranded in a state of stasis, captured in a sociological specimen jar to be gawped at by disbelieving future generations. | It is this sort of attitude by an out-of-touch teaching establishment in Scotland which has seen education in this country stranded in a state of stasis, captured in a sociological specimen jar to be gawped at by disbelieving future generations. |
| John Swinney, the deputy first minister of Scotland and education minister, is the Scottish National Party administration’s go-to politician when an important area of public life requires failing public trust to be restored. He doesn’t easily make enemies. Last Tuesday he unveiled a review of school governance. He has spent the entire summer hinting at its contents and taking informal consultations, so the shift of power and funding from councils to headteachers that it signals did not come as a great surprise. | John Swinney, the deputy first minister of Scotland and education minister, is the Scottish National Party administration’s go-to politician when an important area of public life requires failing public trust to be restored. He doesn’t easily make enemies. Last Tuesday he unveiled a review of school governance. He has spent the entire summer hinting at its contents and taking informal consultations, so the shift of power and funding from councils to headteachers that it signals did not come as a great surprise. |
| If Swinney can deliver this though – and there is still much detail to be painted in – it will constitute the most radical change in the educational delivery model in living memory. | If Swinney can deliver this though – and there is still much detail to be painted in – it will constitute the most radical change in the educational delivery model in living memory. |
| Swinney, it seems, wants to devolve much more of the decision-making process to schools. He isn’t cutting out the important role of local authorities in delivering education, simply allowing the professionals to forge a new and much more collaborative partnership with parents. | Swinney, it seems, wants to devolve much more of the decision-making process to schools. He isn’t cutting out the important role of local authorities in delivering education, simply allowing the professionals to forge a new and much more collaborative partnership with parents. |
| This would build on the relationship that already exists between headteachers and parent councils. Intriguingly, the review of school governance would also provide the means for parents to move against incompetent and arrogant local authorities who are seeking to close successful schools against the wishes of staff and parents. | This would build on the relationship that already exists between headteachers and parent councils. Intriguingly, the review of school governance would also provide the means for parents to move against incompetent and arrogant local authorities who are seeking to close successful schools against the wishes of staff and parents. |
| Crucially, it hints at permitting headteachers the autonomy to identify failing teachers and either improve them by performance management or encourage them to find a more suitable, non-teaching role. | Crucially, it hints at permitting headteachers the autonomy to identify failing teachers and either improve them by performance management or encourage them to find a more suitable, non-teaching role. |
| If the attainment gap that exists between pupils from poorer schools and those from wealthier ones is to be reduced, it won’t happen simply by easier access to university. The changes must start in the primary school and continue seamlessly on to secondary school. | If the attainment gap that exists between pupils from poorer schools and those from wealthier ones is to be reduced, it won’t happen simply by easier access to university. The changes must start in the primary school and continue seamlessly on to secondary school. |
| The education minister has also moved to slap down any suggestions that, by offering more autonomy to headteachers and giving a greater say to parents, that he is paving the way for the discredited free schools model that exists in England. | The education minister has also moved to slap down any suggestions that, by offering more autonomy to headteachers and giving a greater say to parents, that he is paving the way for the discredited free schools model that exists in England. |
| This is important. There can be no room for classroom teachers who don’t possess the required postgraduate qualifications, and there must be no scope for private individuals to hijack the running of a school according to their own passing whims. | This is important. There can be no room for classroom teachers who don’t possess the required postgraduate qualifications, and there must be no scope for private individuals to hijack the running of a school according to their own passing whims. |
| There remains a great deal to do to address ingrained habits in Scottish schools and to bring it into the 21st century, but Scotland’s education minister looks like he has grasped the issues. | There remains a great deal to do to address ingrained habits in Scottish schools and to bring it into the 21st century, but Scotland’s education minister looks like he has grasped the issues. |
| By the time the consultation period for his proposals has ended, his party will have been in charge of education in Scotland for a decade. That’s more than enough time for material and significant change to have occurred. | By the time the consultation period for his proposals has ended, his party will have been in charge of education in Scotland for a decade. That’s more than enough time for material and significant change to have occurred. |