10th March 2022
We welcome the commitment for a national discussion on establishing vision for the future of Scottish education. We call on the Scottish Government to include a cross section of Third Sector sector parent and family groups and organisations in that discussion in order to gather a wide range of parent and carer views. The voices of families – parents/carers and young people – have been largely drowned out in the political clamour around Scottish education in recent years. Children and their parents/carers (who are their primary educators and advocates) should be centre stage as this process moves forward.
The Scottish Government has accepted the recommendations for a new assessments body and a new national agency for Scottish education to replace the SQA and Education Scotland. Connect welcomes this commitment: both new organisations must be more accountable than their predecessors, and it is vital they engage meaningfully with all those who have a stake in education and young people’s learning, not just the usual loud voices.
We repeat the comments from our original consultation response: these bodies require fresh leadership and thinking and cannot simply be re-branded versions of SQA and Education Scotland. The governing bodies should include representatives of all key stakeholders and partners, with genuine commitments to better engagement, especially with young people and their families, and a commitment to improvement. There should be mechanisms and requirements for openness and responsiveness to young people and parents/carers, including robust and transparent mechanisms for responding to concerns and complaints.
We welcome the creation of a new independent inspectorate body, something we have long argued for. This new inspectorate must strengthen engagement with parents/carers and young people as a core part of improvement. We are disappointed the Scottish Government has rejected Professor Muir’s recommendation to re-engage on work on a shared Early Learning and Childcare inspection framework with the Care Inspectorate, and instead will consider this within National Care Service reforms. There has been a long running issue which cannot be kicked down the road any longer.
We are glad to see Professor Muir and the Scottish Government recognise the need for better collaboration and joined up policy within the education system, and that this system is to be held accountable by stakeholders including parents/carers and learners.
Engagement must be meaningful. However, it is not a good sign when the initial consultation for this report was not very accessible for non-professionals, with lots of jargon and esoteric questions. We need to do better if there is to be meaningful change.
From our surveys conducted during the pandemic, we know parents want and need greater levels of engagement. When schools were forced to close due to COVID, parents were more involved and engaged with their child’s learning than ever before, and it would be simply unacceptable to attempt a return to how things were pre-COVID.
We want to thank Professor Muir and his team for the report and bringing much needed fresh thinking to these critical parts of our education system and we look forward to engaging with Professor Hayward as her work on assessment and qualifications begins.