Scotland’s education secretary has promised a “full scale update to the maths curriculum” in the wake of the country’s performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2022.
Jenny Gilruth said today in a statement to the Scottish Parliament that next year would mark the beginning of improvement to Curriculum for Excellence “in a planned and systemic way” - and that maths would be “the first curricular area to be revised”.
She said that literacy and English would be “the next priority for curriculum update”.
In her statement Ms Gilruth also raised the negative impact of mobile phones on learning, which was flagged both in Pisa and in the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research report published in November.
In secondary schools, the behaviour most commonly reported as having the greatest negative impact on the learning experience was students using and looking at mobile phones and tablets when they should not be.
Phone bans backed
Ms Gilruth said she could not “unilaterally ban mobile phones” but there would be “refreshed” guidance on their use published next year.
She said it would support banning if that was what headteachers considered “appropriate”.
She said: “Our starting position is that headteachers are empowered to take the steps that they consider appropriate and if they see fit, the guidance will support the use of banning mobile phones in schools.”
Ms Gilruth’s announcement follows the Pisa results, which were published last week and measure 15-year-olds’ ability in maths, reading and science.
Scotland’s scores fell across the board.
The biggest drop since 2018 - when the tests were last carried out - was in maths, where Scottish pupils’ scores fell by 18 points.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which carries out Pisa, 20 points equates to a year of learning.
Ms Gilruth said that Curriculum for Excellence had been “endorsed” by the OECD in its June 2021 review as “the right approach”.
Role of knowledge
She added: “However, I recognise the need to improve our curriculum in a planned and systemic way, as has been recommended by the OECD.
“We need to do so to ensure it remains relevant, forward-looking and ultimately supports high quality teaching and learning.
“That is why next year, we will begin a curriculum improvement cycle. This will include curriculum content, the role of knowledge, transitions between primary and secondary, and alignment between the broad general education and the senior phase.”
Ms Gilruth said that maths would be the first focus. The work would be led by a maths specialist, beginning in 2024, and would be “tested with Scotland’s teachers later next year”.
She also said there would be a thematic review, first of maths and then literacy, carried out by Scotland’s schools inspectorate.
