Delays are holding back Scottish education reform

Responding to SQA Chief Executive Fiona Robertson's comments to the Scottish Parliament education committee in which she warned that the organisation had lost good people when the government delayed for 6 months any decision on compulsory redundancies and that recruitment remains difficult with the uncertainty about the future of the organisation, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie said:

"After a series of wide-reaching reports into Scottish education, there was an opportunity for a reset that put teacher's expertise at the heart of a new system .

"Instead, delays to legislation and confusion over the function of the new organisations envisioned to run Scottish education have meant that this window of opportunity is slipping away.

"I have often been critical of the SQA leadership and their approach to education but on this occasion it seems clear that they are being expected to operate with one hand tied behind their backs.

"Rather than Education ministers playing hot potato with the problem, we need some ministerial leadership to get the overhaul of Scottish education back on track."