The publication of three crucial reports on Scottish education - including the Scottish government’s response to the independent Hayward review of qualifications and assessment - has been put on hold until after the summer holidays, Tes Scotland can reveal.
In a letter to the convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee today, education secretary Jenny Gilruth says the publication of the government’s behaviour action plan and mobile phone guidance for schools will also be delayed.
Ms Gilruth says she has taken the decision because of the general election on Thursday 4 July and the rules around the pre-election period - particularly in relation “to the announcement of decisions”.
Nevertheless, news of further delays will come as a blow to those who have been urging Ms Gilruth to act for months.
Frustration over Scottish education reports
In November, referring the assessment review undertaken by Professor Louise Hayward, education directors’ body ADES urged Ms Gilruth to “get Hayward done”, while other national bodies and influential figures in Scottish education have made similar noises. It is now over a year since the Hayward report was published on 22 June 2023.
Deteriorating behaviour has also been a huge challenge for schools and teachers, with government research published last year showing increases in low-level disruption, disengagement and serious disruptive behaviour.
Earlier this month the outgoing president of the EIS teaching union, primary teacher Paula McEwan, predicted that the behaviour action plan would be “words on a page with nothing to back them up”.
But as it turns out, teachers will have to wait - even for the words.
It is also unclear why Ms Gilruth was reassuring teachers only last week - at a general election hustings, hosted by the EIS teaching union on Thursday evening (June 20) - that the behaviour action plan would be published “very shortly”.
In terms of the government’s response to the Hayward review, Ms Gilruth told the Scottish parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee at its meeting on January 17 that she expected to publish a response at “the end of March”.
She appeared before the committee again on March 20 when she said she would formally respond to the review “in the coming weeks”.
At the same March meeting she said she hoped the behaviour action plan would be “published in the next few weeks”. Then, on May 23, responding to a question in the Scottish parliament Ms Gilruth again said the plan would be published “in the coming weeks”.
In her letter today, Ms Gilruth says that, in view of the announcement of the general election - made by prime minister Rishi Sunak on 22 May - she has had to consider whether publication of the government’s Hayward response “remains appropriate”, and that this also applies to the behaviour action plan and the mobile phone guidance.
‘No choice but to pause publication’
She says: “I have carefully considered the Scottish government guidance principally around the need to take particular care in relation to the announcement of decisions during the pre-election period, and I conclude that I have no choice but to pause publication until after the election.
“I appreciate these are important publications which schools and the wider system have been waiting for and, as such, I intend to publish all three as soon as is practically possible in the new school year.”
Ms Gilruth added: “I will use the additional time this affords to engage further with stakeholders on the content of the Scottish government response to the independent [Hayward] review.
“I look forward to discussing the Scottish government’s work on improving Scottish education with the committee again in due course.”
Responding to Ms Gilruth’s letter, an EIS spokesperson hit out at “the lack of action from the Scottish government on a wide range of educational issues”.
The spokesperson said it was “deeply disappointing” and the system needed “clarity on these matters, to provide certainty for staff as they strive to deliver the best educational experience for all young people”.
The spokesperson added: “While the UK general election has clearly diverted much of the attention of politicians, our schools, teachers and young people are waiting for answers from a Scottish government that seems to have taken its eye off the ball, rather than making education its top priority as was previously promised.”
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