Analysis: a year in Scottish education - government ambitions stumble

When it comes to education, it is safe to say the 2017/18 parliamentary year did not end the way the Scottish Government had envisaged it would.

With its major piece of legislation being shelved in favour of a ‘fast-tracked’ approach through councils, and its International Council of Education Advisers raising questions about some key elements of reform, was this the year the wheels came off?

And with Brexit looming, and teaching unions bracing for strike action over a ten per cent pay rise, things may get worse for ministers before they get better.

In her Programme for Government in September 2017, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the proposed education bill as the “centrepiece” of her plans, adding that closing the gap in attainment between rich and poor children is the government’s “number-one priority”.

The bill proposed the establishment of a new school governance structure in the form of regional collaborative bodies, while giving greater power to head teachers over their budgets.

But by the end of September, local authorities, protective of their autonomy and democratic accountability, had won a concession from Education Secretary John Swinney that the regional bodies would be accountable to their member councils.

They were now to be named ‘Improvement Collaboratives’, and Swinney went on to concede they could now be established without the need for legislation. 

The idea of headteachers taking control of school finances also raised alarm bells among those submitting evidence to the bill. Unions questioned the capacity in schools to deal with the changes, something already raised by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.

The Scottish Parent Teacher Council, which was soon to change its name to Connect, warned that the employment of business managers should be resourced from additional funding, not from funds for classroom teachers or teaching resources. 

“Head teachers should not become accountants or business managers, but be the leaders of learning in their school,” said executive director Eileen Prior.

And after winning concessions on the collaborative bodies, councils umbrella body COSLA’s issues with the legislation were not over. 

At the beginning of 2018 its children and young people spokesperson, Councillor Stephen McCabe, said: “The increase in bureaucracy that the proposals would bring has the potential of increasing the existing difficulties councils are experiencing with recruitment and retention.

“Ultimately, there are significant risks to the ideal of local democracy in Scotland and to our ability as councils to provide a multi-service approach to support our young people and their families.”

The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) even questioned whether the proposed legislation was evidence based, especially when it came to replacing the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) with a broader regulator of all education professionals.

“Without this evidence, the proposal is at risk of expending time, resource and energy on unnecessary structural change,” the submission said.

The Scottish Government’s own consultation concluded: “In general, there was support for the principles behind the Education (Scotland) Bill although there was less support for legislation to enshrine these principles.”

Indeed, the ‘centrepiece’ legislation was not needed after all, it emerged. In June, Swinney announced the changes would be ‘fast tracked’ by councils. 

“The Scottish Government and Scotland’s local councils have reached an agreement that endorses and embraces the principles of school empowerment and provides clear commitment to a school and teacher-led education system. And it does so without the need to wait 18 months for an education bill,” he told MSPs.

He added: “I can make more progress by collaborating with local authorities than I can through legislation.”

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But plans to reform the GTCS were left on the cutting room floor.

Scottish Labour’s Iain Gray said teachers, parents and Swinney’s own international advisers had spent two years telling him the reforms were wrong.

“The only thing being fast-tracked here is the mother of all ministerial climb-downs,” he said.

Indeed, Swinney’s international advisers, it emerged, had urged him to “keep any legislative interventions to a minimum”.

Meanwhile, celebration of a commitment to end the public pay freeze at the beginning of the parliamentary year has since transmogrified into what could be the first national teacher strikes since the 1980s.

The EIS, the SSTA, the NASUWT, and Voice the Union have been campaigning for a ten per cent uplift to reinstate real-terms earnings to “pre-austerity levels”, and in June warned that time was running out on a negotiated settlement.

Efforts to meet commitments to widen access to university may have to step up as well. In March, the Scottish Funding Council reported fewer students from the most deprived parts of Scotland are entering university.

Although only a small decrease on the previous year, universities have been told by the Scottish Government to accelerate widening access to meet its targets of having students from the poorest backgrounds to make up 20 per cent of entrants by 2030.

Scotland’s Commissioner for Fair Access Professor Sir Peter Scott’s first annual report in December had praised “ambitious efforts” but challenged them to be bolder.

“Contextual admissions are the most powerful instrument available to universities to promote fairer access but more radical action is required in terms of grade adjustments, and more consistent and transparent processes are needed,” it said.

Of even more pressing concern to universities is Brexit, which after a year of international negotiations and political grandstanding, seems no clearer for the sector.

The European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, confirmed in October that UK researchers will no longer be eligible for European funding after 2019, adding that a ‘no deal scenario’ would lead to teams losing current funding and being asked to leave collaborative projects.

Huge question marks remain over the Erasmus student exchange programme and the immigration status of graduates and researchers in Scotland, especially with a ‘no deal’ split looking more likely.

In March, Edinburgh and Glasgow universities pledged to work together on a charm offensive with Europe to limit the damage, but the layout of a post-Brexit research landscape remains elusive.

In July, UK universities minister Sam Gyimah used a tweet to invite scientists and researchers to “keep bidding for projects.”

Projects awarded European funding would be underwritten by the UK Government until 2020, he pledged.

Beyond that, the sector has no idea how European funding will be replaced, or indeed what immigration policies will be in place.

And as Holyrood exclusively revealed last month, the uncertainty is not just hitting higher education.

GTCS figures revealed only 14 EU teachers applied for GTCS registration in the six months to 30 June 2018, a dramatic drop from previous years. 

At a time when Scotland is experiencing a teacher shortage and those that are working are threatening strikes, the number exemplifies a troubling mid-term report for Scottish 
education.