By Eric Nicolson

A ROOT and branch review of Perth and Kinross Council’s troubled education service has laid bare the leadership, attitude and performance shortcomings that have bedevilled the department for several years.

Among the most damning indictments is that children in the area have had their chances of progressing to further education, or fulfilling their potential in the employment market, “seriously impaired” as a result.

The 54-page critique of the education department, conducted by external reviewer Maggi Allan, comes in the wake of a highly critical Government investigation into its performance and the premature departure of the last director of education, George Waddell.

Indeed, Mr Waddell’s three-year tenure has come in for sharp criticism from Ms Allan.

Council employees she interviewed found him more accessible than his predecessor, but Ms Allan observed, “These positive references were outweighed by expressions of disappointment and dissatisfaction that the leadership of education and children’s services had not enabled staff to respond to challenges facing the service.”

Staff expressed frustration at what they saw as a lack of commitment to significant initiatives, which in turn threatened sustainability, and they felt work had not been valued.

Ms Allan’s work revealed claims of preferential treatment for secondary schools by Mr Waddell. She wrote, “The leadership was not seen as being inclusive of the service as a whole. The area of the service which dealt with school education and secondary schools in particular was perceived by some as being accorded a greater priority by the former executive director.

“While it was difficult to measure the negative impact... generated by this perception, it is reasonable to conclude that it inhibited collaborative working.

“What emerged from interviews was a picture of leadership which did not have a clear sense of purpose and which was often perceived as taking actions which created divisions between sections.”

Department deficiencies did not begin and end at the top however, as became clear when Ms Allan turned her aim on the “prevailing culture.”

She said, “When discussing attainment, staff often commented, ‘Perth and Kinross schools perform above the national average.’ Factually this is a correct statement.

“However, it is a statement which does not convey a sense of high aspiration or drive to do better. Nor does it acknowledge that in almost every indicator for the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework, Perth and Kinross schools consistently perform below the levels of comparator authorities.

“It also fails to recognise the low level of performance of some pupils in secondary schools, thus seriously impairing the opportunities to progress to further or higher education and of becoming economically active in adult life.

“An additional and not insignificant fact is that there is no authority-wide strategy in place to raise attainment.”

The report will go before Wednesday’s strategic policy and resources committee and a raft of recommendations for the way forward will be outlined.

Council leader Jimmy Doig observed, “This report provides an honest appraisal of the capacity of the council and education and children’s services to respond to the challenges and opportunities we will face over the next five to 10 years.

“I want to reaffirm the commitment of the council to delivering integrated education and children’s services that meet the needs of local communities.”