Neil McIntosh

Absolutely bloody shameful. Scotland’s children get one education. When the results expose how badly they are being served, those responsible question the value of measuring them. Read Lindsay Paterson’s Lessons from Scottish Schools Why Knowledge Matters. His argument is devastating: reforms promoted in the name of equality have weakened attainment and widened inequality. Neglecting knowledge does particular damage to children who depend on school to provide what their families cannot. There is nothing progressive about leaving them knowing less. I recognise the pattern from addiction policy. Institutions defend their reputations, while the ministers elected to hold them accountable supply the excuses. Evidence becomes an inconvenience to be explained away. Challenging failure becomes an attack on the supposedly compassionate principles behind it. It takes extraordinary arrogance to preside over declining standards and widening inequality while still congratulating yourself on your progressive principles.