"Substantial" changes required to ensure Education Bill delivers necessary reforms

If approved by the Parliament, the Education (Scotland) Bill will establish and set out the functions of a replacement for the SQA and establish a new, stand alone, office for the Chief Inspector of Education.

Douglas Ross MSP, Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, said:

“The Committee recognises the need for a qualifications body and an independent inspectorate that holds the confidence and trust of learners, parents and carers, and teaching professionals. While these long-awaited reforms could help to deliver bodies that hold this confidence, substantial changes are still required to ensure the Scottish Government’s approach succeeds.

“In particular, we want the Scottish Government to take steps that will help rebuild public trust in the bodies that oversee education in Scotland, ensuring that there is strong accountability for these new bodies from the start.

“We know that this is just one aspect of the Scottish Government’s plans to reform education in Scotland and we await a more coherent vision from the Cabinet Secretary before the end of the year.”

The Bill is a response to several reviews and reports, including the OECD Review of the Curriculum for Excellence and a report by Professor Ken Muir on the replacement of the SQA, reform of Education Scotland and removal of its inspection function.

Professor Muir shared his concerns with the Committee about Qualifications Scotland, the body which will replace the SQA, and its planned responsibility for awarding, regulating and accrediting qualifications. The Committee was also concerned by this and, at the very least, wants the Scottish Government to provide the resources and structure to ensure that the new body’s accreditation role is accountable and independent.

The report makes further recommendations regarding the oversight of the work of the new qualifications body. The Committee want assurances that this will be better managed than is specified in the proposals, guaranteeing that children and young people, parents and carers, adult learners and teaching professionals will be able to share their views in an appropriate way to develop public faith in the body.

Several recommendations are also made around the inspectorate. These include, ensuring the Inspector is able to challenge Scottish Ministers and education authorities, requesting the Inspector provide a clear statement on the purpose of inspections and clarify whether the inspectorate would be responsible for scrutinising national bodies including Qualifications Scotland and Education Scotland.

The report also acknowledges the sense of frustration that some witnesses had with the slow pace of education reform, although, it noted that some of the reforms in the reports and reviews could be made without legislative change.