From the Herald today:
SNP ministers have been accused of stretching the Scottish education system “beyond breaking point” after statistics revealed that one in six secondary schools have a pupil roll greater than 100% capacity.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23636498.high-schools-beyond-breaking-point-one-six-full-capacity/
Who is the ‘accuser’ ignoring the fact that local authorities are directly responsible for the above ‘problem?’
Oh, it’s Liam Kerr MSP Con.
Imagine the same schools had a bit more space? What would Kerr be saying then?
‘SNP wasting taxpayers’ money on empty classrooms!’
The article by David Bols is just another opposition party press release and should be condemned as such.
Finally, Bols tells us that 210 primary schools are beyond 90% capacity. First what’s wrong with that? Efficiency? Don’t Tories love that notion? Second, there are 2 056 primary schools in Scotland. So, 1 in 10 are being well-used?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
And what is the usual cause of schools being beyond capacity?
It is the Education Scotland Act of 1990, sometimes called by the arse-licking media, ‘The Parents’ Charter’, because it allowed parents to select the local Council school which their children could attend, provided there was sufficient capacity. The Act was introduced as part of the Tory ‘choice’ concept, whereby parents, as ‘customers’ knew best what they wanted and that included the schools for their children. They would choose ‘the best’ and, consequently, ‘failing schools’ would lose pupils and ‘good’ schools would gain them.
Schools serving areas of high multiple deprivation tended to get fewer of the upper grades in examinations and, upper grades was, allegedly, what parents wanted. Now, of course we want our children to get the highest grades they can, but there is more to schools than that. And this is where the insidious Tory social engineering comes in. Schools in leafy areas tend to get more upper grades because these are more affluent areas. It is alleged, supported by teacher unions shouting about ‘chaos and indiscipline’ in schools in areas of deprivation. And, this allegedly keeps weans back.
So, let parents take their weans away from schools filled with hooligans, and go to ones where they will get peace to learn.
So, the schools in ‘leafy’ areas get filled to capacity – and beyond, because the affluent parents can hire lawyers to challenge the criteria that Councils use to set school capacities. Sheriffs, being affluent and probably privately educated, tend to be sympathetic to these arguments and so grant admissions beyond capacity.
Of course, the Tories do not acknowledge the consequences of their baleful legislation.
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In addition to the point highlighted above, schools at or slightly above capacity have a very long history indeed, right back to when Liam Kerr’s father was but a gleam in the postman’s eye.
This is yet another example of abusing statistics purely for political ends, facilitated by ‘journalists’ who have no interest in perspective rather than copy/pasting the script handed them by political pygmies to fill column inches.
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