The level of online support teachers and pupils received from Education Scotland after the pandemic closed schools in March 2020 was “poor to non-existent”, the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry heard today.
Jim Thewliss was general secretary of the secondary headteachers’ organisation School Leaders Scotland (SLS) at the time. He told the Covid inquiry - which is taking evidence on the impact of Covid-19 on education and certification - that Education Scotland took a “very long time…to come up to standard, if it ever did”.
He said SLS had suspected Education Scotland “was not up to scratch” and “suddenly it was tested and found to be lacking”.
Mr Thewliss made his comments in a written submission ahead of his appearance at the inquiry today but reiterated the criticism in his responses to questions.
He said Education Scotland was found “wanting” in terms of being “ready and prepared to upscale in a way which could support the profession and support young people’s learning”.
Schools ‘left on their own’
He said schools were “left on their own to work out how to make this work”.
Mr Thewliss said: “There was not a great deal of support, certainly in the very early stages, available from Education Scotland on their website, and it took a long time for it to start to wind up within the organisation to let them understand what the education community needed in terms of the support in relation to digital learning.”
The e-Sgoil - which specialises in delivering live online lessons and was developed by the Western Isles Council - eventually filled a significant part of that gap, he said.
Mr Thewliss said that Education Scotland subsequently “leapt” on the e-Sgoil and then “made that available across the country”.
Graham Hutton - the current SLS general secretary, who was a headteacher during the pandemic - was also giving evidence to the inquiry today.
He said the move to online learning was “very hard” for teachers who had “no training” and the experience was “quite frightening” for some colleagues.
If staff did live lessons, “nobody turned up”, with just two students in a class of 30 attending, he said, prompting a shift to recording lessons.
Pupils submitted work in middle of night
Young people’s days had “turned around”, he said, with teachers remarking that some students were submitting work at 3am.
Mr Hutton said all the teachers in his school - in 2020 he was head of Grove Academy in Dundee - had iPads but the rollout had yet to reach pupils at the time of the first lockdown. Access to devices and the internet was, therefore, variable and “a barrier to learning”.
However, he acknowledged that schools serving areas of deprivation probably struggled more and Mr Thewliss said there were “large parts of Scotland where broadband access was an issue”.
A spokesperson from Education Scotland said: “We are supportive of the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry and for the opportunity for witnesses to share their experiences. The inquiry is an important process that will help to identify lessons to be learned and we fully support the need for honest discussions to take place as part of that process.”
The Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry began its hearings into the impact of the pandemic on education yesterday. The last session on education is due to take place on Wednesday 20 November.
In March, research from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) suggested that the pandemic was still having a “substantial” impact on education in Scotland - with the reform of that body and Education Scotland stemming, in part at least, from their responses to the pandemic.
In June 2021 - after the publication of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) review of Curriculum for Excellence - the education secretary at the time, Shirley-Anne Somerville, fired the starting gun on what has been described as the “reshaping” of Scotland’s educational infrastructure.
The SQA would be “replaced”, she said, and Education Scotland “substantially reformed”, with its inspection arm removed and placed within an independent body.
Although the OECD review provided some of the impetus, it is also recognised that teacher dissatisfaction with the bodies - which peaked during the pandemic - was a factor.
Gillian Hamilton took over as chief executive of Education Scotland in March last year. She has said Education Scotland needs to be “an accessible organisation...and much closer to the profession”. But for how much longer she will lead the body is unclear. An initial attempt to recruit a chief executive failed - as did the attempt to recruit a chief inspector - owing to a lack of interest in the roles.
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