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Kezia Dugdale blasts SNP education record

Scottish Labour deputy leader Kezia Dugdale has accused the SNP of 'letting down' young people.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Kezia Dugdale has accused the SNP of 'letting down' young people.

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader has accused the SNP of “letting down” young people as she launched an attack on the party’s record on education.

Kezia Dugdale said a drop in the number of pupils passing exams and falling numeracy skills among children from deprived backgrounds were a “damning indictment” of the nationalists’ eight years in government.

Speaking during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood, she highlighted figures showing the number of candidates passing exams fell by almost 102,000 in the last year.

Ms Dugdale said new research by Dr Jim Scott at Edinburgh University had found a 20% drop in the number of candidates gaining Level 3-5 qualifications, which replaced the old Standard Grade exams, between 2012/13 and 2013/14.

Recent figures have also shown that three-quarters of S2 pupils from the most disadvantaged backgrounds do not have adequate numeracy skills, she said.

Ms Dugdale said: “For years, education professionals and teachers and parents have been warning this Government about the exam system and this evidence from a third-party senior academic is really very serious information that I would request the First Minister takes very seriously indeed. We are talking about a 20% drop in attainment in one year.

“Just 25%, one quarter, of S2 pupils from the most disadvantaged backgrounds have the numeracy skills they should. It’s clear that pupils from the wealthiest backgrounds do twice as well. Is that not a damning indictment of this SNP government?

“This really matters. That a child’s ability to read and write still depends on the income of their parents should be a source of shame to this parliament.

“After eight years in office the SNP’s record on education is this: the vast majority of S2 pupils from the poorest backgrounds falling behind in numeracy, the numbers of pupils passing exams plummeting and the number of people going to college falling dramatically.

“In a globalised world, where education matters more than any time in our history, Scotland’s young people are being let down. Is this really a report card to be proud of?”

In response, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pointed to the recently announced Scottish Attainment Challenge, aimed at improving educational outcomes in Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities.

She said: “I will look at and will take seriously any evidence cited to me but, more than that, I will make sure we act on that evidence, which is why, as I’ve already said, we’ve announced the attainment challenge, backed by £100 million of new funding, so that we can continue to build on the work that we’ve been doing to improve education, not just for those in our least deprived areas but for every single young person in this country.

“There’s nothing more important to me, and I’m sure I speak on behalf of people right across this chamber, than education.

“As First Minister I owe it to every single young person across our country to ensure that they get a great education and that’s a responsibility I take seriously.”