Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Drop the politics’: Education expert tells MSPs to focus on policy for school improvement

Scottish education is under scrutiny by experts
Scottish education is under scrutiny by experts

An international expert who helped write a study of Scottish education warned politics has overtaken policy in reviewing the curriculum.

Dr Beatriz Pont told a Holyrood committee “the will is there” but it’s time to “drop the politics”.

She co-wrote an Organisation for Economy Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, published in June, which had been commissioned by the Scottish Government.

It led to a decision to scrap the Scottish Qualifications Authority and reform the Education Scotland agency, including removing its power of inspection.

During questions on the OECD’s work in Holyrood on Wednesday, Dr Pont was asked about the development of Scotland’s “curriculum for excellence”.

‘Politics overtake the policy’

Asked if Scotland is in a “good place to do that”, Dr Pont said: “We’re providing recommendations to consolidate the structures to make your curriculum for excellence less political and more policy oriented.

“We find that at present, the politics overtake the policy, and that’s why we think it’s important to have the right institutional structure, so that CFE is professionally reviewed in an institution that has the experts to do so and consults externally with all the different stakeholders to be able to do so.

“You have the will. The whole system is so interested in education as one of the top priorities in public policy, so we welcome that. That is immensely important. If that’s such a priority, you will make it happen and drop the politics behind.”

During the session, MSPs clashed over the lack of involvement of a prominent critic of the curriculum.

Oliver Mundell MSP clashed with opponents in the session

Professor Lindsay Paterson, of Edinburgh University, has long opposed the policy which was under scrutiny from the OECD.

Dr Pont said it was not possible to involve him.

She added: “I think we covered a good number of academic perspectives, whether we met them or read their materials initially or during the review.”

Tory MSP Oliver Mundell criticised the decision, leading to some party political argument.

He said: “Quite frankly I find it shocking that the OECD didn’t find the time to speak to Professor Paterson. I think he’s widely regarded in Scotland, by Scottish teachers, by parents, by many across academia.

“The idea that, as one of the leading critics of the current curriculum, his voice would not be included and his papers would only be read, I think confirms many of the concerns I’ve got.”

‘Highly embarrassing’

SNP MSP James Dornan came to the defence of the OECD review, saying: “I found the last intervention highly embarrassing for the committee.

“The OECD is an internationally respected organisation, Oliver seems to have this conspiracy theory that the Scottish Government have got power over all sorts of international bodies and that if they don’t do exactly as he wants, then there is some conspiracy is going on.

“It’s unacceptable for the OECD to be coming here in good faith, taking questions and then getting that type of abuse from a member.”

The committee’s convener, Stephen Kerr, himself a Tory MSP, replied: “I’m not sure we could say what occurred is abuse, but your point is made.”