Scottish education directors’ body ADES has warned that plans for education reform do not go far enough and fail to deliver on the recommendations made in a series of major reviews and reports.
The directors highlight lack of progress since both the 2021 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) review of Curriculum for Excellence and Professor Louise Hayward’s review of qualifications and assessment, published in June 2023.
Responding to the Education (Scotland) Bill - introduced in June - ADES says: “There is a danger that change will be minimal and that the existing elements of the system are being repackaged and reinstated in a different order.
“The Scottish education system for the 21st century requires a more significant change in its qualifications and national agency model rather than surface makeover.
“The bill does not pay enough attention to the questions and recommendations raised in the [2022] Muir report, Hayward report, OECD and [International Council of Education Advisers] recommendations over the last few years. It feels as though these have now been set aside and replaced by a watered-down version of reform.”
Education directors challenge reform plans
ADES also calls for the new chief inspector of education to be free to “support and challenge the system in an impartial and non-political manner”.
It says: “At present the level of interference by politicians has diminished the credibility of the post.”
The government’s publication of its long-awaited education bill in June came a year later than originally planned.
It includes plans to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) with a new national qualifications body, Qualifications Scotland. The legislation also aims to enhance the independence of the inspectorate by removing the education inspection function from Education Scotland, where it currently sits alongside curriculum development.
‘Autocratic and top-down’ messaging
However, in a submission responding to the government’s call for views on the bill, which closes tomorrow, ADES says the proposals lack ambition. It criticises “disproportionate focus” on “structure change rather than...plans for significant change”, and says “cultural and behavioural change in national organisations is also required”.
ADES is concerned that the bill comes across as “autocratic and top-down”, thanks to the use of terms such as “enforcement”, which “detracts from the genuine need for whole-system working with the active engagement of all stakeholders”.
The submission adds: “There is too much emphasis on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’. There needs to be an agreed theory of change to underpin the proposed changes.”
‘Greater clarity’ essential
Launching the bill in June, education secretary Jenny Gilruth said it would ensure that teachers and students were “central to decisions taken on qualifications and assessment”. However, ADES cautions that “greater clarity is required” on how the bill will “demonstrate that their voices have been taken fully into account”.
On plans for Qualifications Scotland to publish both a “learner charter” and a “teacher and practitioner charter”, ADES says the concept “is a positive one”. However, the charters will have to be “monitored, evaluated and challenged at an independent level rather than internally by the new body”.
There have long been fears that the Scottish government’s education reforms - first announced in 2021 - will result in little more than “reshuffling of the deckchairs”.
Earlier this year Ms Gilruth sought to offer reassurance, saying “significant progress” must be made by the end of this [2021-26] parliamentary term on reform of qualifications and assessment, with initial changes starting in 2024. More recently, in an interview with The Times, she said the SQA had already been looking at which qualifications did not lend themselves to a final exam, such as more practical subjects.
However, it seems unlikely that the Hayward recommendation to scrap all exams below Higher level will be progressed: Ms Gilruth believes the change does not have teachers’ support and that there are continuing doubts over the credibility of the internally assessed National 4.
Responding to the bill in June, Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said she was disappointed that the awarding and regulation functions of the SQA would not be separated.
Like ADES, Ms Bradley also warned that “structural changes must be accompanied by cultural change”.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The provisions within the bill, alongside other reforms, will bring about real change and help strengthen the national education landscape. The governance model for the new body will ensure the knowledge and experience of pupils and teachers are central to decisions taken on qualifications and assessment.
“Ministers are clear that these legislative governance changes alone will not create the cultural change needed and the changes proposed provide a framework that will shape the identity and focus of both Qualifications Scotland and Education Scotland.”
The spokesperson added: “Greater independence for the new inspectorate body will see the power to set the frequency and focus for inspections moving from Scottish ministers to His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. This is a significant change and will increase confidence in the independent role of inspections in assessing and identifying strengths and areas for improvement across our education system.”
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