Scottish education
Curriculum for Excellence – or dumbing down?
Cameron Wyllie reported here (see above) of a surge in parents seeking private education for their offspring at S3 level because of their concerns over the flagship Curriculum for Excellence. Already independent schools dominate modern…
Gold standard for Scottish education?
Nicola Sturgeon, we know, has chosen her experienced deputy John Swinney to spearhead improvements to the Scottish education system over the next five years. But, argues an independent school head, writing in a personal capacity,…
Closing the gap via self-directed schools
Charitable trusts would take over East Lothian schools under the author’s plan seven years ago. The idea came to nought. Avoiding the English academy model to close the attainment gap, Prof Ledingham proposes 50 prototype…
Wot’s Swinney’s big education idea?
John Swinney is a Big Beast brought in by the First Minister to close the attainment gap in Scottish schools – or “fix” a failing system. Lots of ideas swirling around but a rather vague…
Scottish cabinet members: experience required
“There are big problems facing the new Scottish Government and some of them will come to a head very quickly.” Farm payments, education, the economy, jobs, tax – our economics guru examines them all.
New Education Minister: raising standards
Her choice of Education Minister will be a defining element of Nicola Sturgeon’s likely cabinet reshuffle and of her first full five-year term as First Minister. The agenda could not be tougher or more complex…
Student funding: what the parties say
Scotland’s leading expert on HE funding sets out what the parties say about student support in the run-up to the May 5 elections to the parliament.
PFI: is the £56bn capital cost worth it?
The closure of 17 Edinburgh schools built under PFI contracts has become a big issue in the Holyrood elections. Here an expert goes behind the headlines to analyse the system of public/private co-financing as a…
Lessons from the Edinburgh schools fiasco
Nicola Sturgeon has called for an inquiry into the Edinburgh school closures and the PFI scheme behind it is under renewed scrutiny. Here Unison’s senior Scottish official, a long-time PFI/PPP opponent, looks at why things…
University is no universal benefit
Scottish universities, we learn, have a £60m annual funding gap yet ministers talk as if all young people should go free to university. But how is that wider access to higher education to be financed?…
Sturgeon’s runner-up on May 5?
Nicola Sturgeon will still be first minister on May 6. Kezia Dugdale and Ruth Davidson are vying for the role of opposition leader in the next Holyrood term but both are really positioning themselves for…
Swinney frets – or frits – about SRIT
The row over a 1p rise in income tax or SRIT has for once put the SNP and Scottish Government on the back foot. And that’s before increases in tax allowances kick in. This leaves…