Tag: education

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SNP to reverse Labour’s cruel two child benefit cap and push on to eradicate child poverty for all of us

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From the National minutes ago: 2:40pm BREAKING: The SNP will axe the UK Government’s controversial two-child benefit cap for thousands of Scots. Finance Secretary Shona Robison will make the announcement in her Holyrood Budget speech in just a matter of minutes, according to The Scottish Sun.  This would be a big move, and one that will put Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour in a tricky position …https://www.thenational.scot/news/24770245.scottish-budget-live-snp-set-tax-spending-plans/?ref=ebbn&nid=1457&u=373de6c7573215d01eab2a2993b269b0&date=041224 At 15:25 she did it! Why is this a major moment in history? From the London School of Economics in September 2023 Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host … Continue reading SNP to reverse Labour’s cruel two child benefit cap and push on to eradicate child poverty for all of us

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Fraser Nelson travels ‘home’ to shame city with child poverty level lower than the many he passed on the way from the South

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Thanks again to AR for alerting me to this. Self-described ‘Scot’, born in England, Glasgow graduate, Conservative, benefits scrounger-hunter and former editor of the Spectator, Fraser Nelson is in the Herald today to tell us: We are not getting any nearer to solving poverty that is blight on Glasgow Child poverty in Glasgow is currently 33.5%. Shameful, I know, but on the way, Nelson missed the opportunity to visit and to lecture the people of the above local authorities identified by Action for Children or these local authorities, below, identified by The Health Foundation in July this … Continue reading Fraser Nelson travels ‘home’ to shame city with child poverty level lower than the many he passed on the way from the South

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Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian in December 2024: The news that more than one in three children in the UK are now living in poverty should shock everyone but surprise no one. Nearly three years into the cost of living crisis, we know that young families and disabled people have been among those hit hardest by the biggest fall in UK living standards in half a century. The latest estimates, by the non-partisan Social Metrics Commission, show that the number of people in poverty has risen to 16 million, or nearly one in four of the UK population – its highest … Continue reading Eradicating child poverty costs nothing in the long term because everything depends on it

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Scotsman blames SNP for balancing books on teacher numbers but still keeping best conditions in world and best staffing level in the UK as pupils numbers plummet

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By Professor John Robertson, OBA Every year, the Scottish Government monitors the number of teachers and pupils in the system, predicts future demand and adjusts teacher training place numbers to take account of this, with a view to not having too many teachers or overspending in one area of its fixed budget. Sensible? Last year, they were able to say: In Scotland, the number of primary school pupils peaked in 2017 at around 400,000 pupils before decreasing to around 390,000 in 2021. Estimates using 2018-based population projections show a continued decrease each year to around 355,000 in 2027. 1 and have … Continue reading Scotsman blames SNP for balancing books on teacher numbers but still keeping best conditions in world and best staffing level in the UK as pupils numbers plummet

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John Swinney’s local schools close to delight BBC Reporting Scotland but why can janitor, cook and cleaner strikes close schools in Scotland but not in England?

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By Professor John Robertson BBC Reporting Scotland can barely contain themselves as they get a story of ‘staff’ on strike closing schools in John Swinney’s constituency, show him walking around a school, rather than the responsible local council chief and, in the online version, lead off with: All of the primary schools in Perth and Kinross are closed after non-teaching school staff began strike action in First Minister John Swinney’s constituency. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g4n09qm51o The Reporting Scotland broadcast is careful to drop that ‘non-teaching‘ bit so that you might think teachers are out too, against the FM! The directly responsible body, COSLA, is … Continue reading John Swinney’s local schools close to delight BBC Reporting Scotland but why can janitor, cook and cleaner strikes close schools in Scotland but not in England?

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10% of the population but 65% more doctors in training

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From Undergraduate medicine degree admissions at Scottish universities: FOI release, published yesterday, we see 1 240 entrants to ‘Pre Clinical’ medicine for 2022-23, the latest HESA data available (245 from rUK).1 From NHS England’s NHS England update on medical school training places, 28 February letter to Royal College of Physicians, published in February 2024: We are currently ahead of plan on our initial milestone to increase medical training places from an intake of 7,500 in September 2023 to 8,200 places by September 2025, as set out on p129 of the LTWP. In September 2023, a total of 7,571 medical school … Continue reading 10% of the population but 65% more doctors in training

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Scotland’s state schools – in 2007, 37.6% of pupils in bad or poor condition buildings, in 2024 it’s just 5.1%.

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East Dunbartonshire Council’s brand new £34.9m Additional Support Needs School – Woodland View – opened to pupils on Friday 18 August 2023. By stewartb This provides statistics for context and perspective. It follows a BBC Scotland article on the corporation’s News website on 12 October headlined: ‘Child safety fears as ‘repaired’ ceiling falls at neglected school’. Now don’t get me wrong, no one should have a piece of wood or plasterboard fall on or near their head, anywhere. And especially no one wants children to be at risk from such an incident in a school. It’s a legitimate BBC local … Continue reading Scotland’s state schools – in 2007, 37.6% of pupils in bad or poor condition buildings, in 2024 it’s just 5.1%.

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Dangerous walks to school – what they don’t want you to know about Labour North Lanarkshire and Labour Wales

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By stewartb I notice in a BBC article a reference to North Lanarkshire Council’s financial woes: ‘In a bid to save £3.6m in August, the Council. changed the qualifying mileage limits for free school transport from one mile to two miles for primary school pupils, and two to three miles for secondary school pupils.’ One parent is quoted by BBC Scotland saying, amongst other things: “But we’re talking about a 50 minute walk for most children, and some will be more than that. So the distance is part of it, but it’s the safety.’ Of course ‘safety’ is a critically … Continue reading Dangerous walks to school – what they don’t want you to know about Labour North Lanarkshire and Labour Wales

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Teacher numbers row – Labour/Tory councils play politics with billions in usable reserves and risk the best pupil-teacher ratios in the UK

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BBC Scotland, still headlining and picturing the SNP Education Secretary to suggest it’s all about her actions and putting pupils’ education at risk, while ignoring the facts. First: Pupil to teacher ratios in maintained schools were lowest in Scotland (13.2) and similar in Northern Ireland (17.4), England (18.0) and Wales (18.4).1 That’s a huge percentage difference in 54 000 teachers, meaning several thousand more teachers per head of population in Scotland. It would take massive cuts, of the kind not in question, to change that significantly. Second, Scotland’s local authorities are sitting on massive usable reserves, kept for just this kind … Continue reading Teacher numbers row – Labour/Tory councils play politics with billions in usable reserves and risk the best pupil-teacher ratios in the UK

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What they don’t want you to know about in the ‘teacher numbers row’

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Headlining on BBC Scotland today: The Scottish government has withheld £145.5m in funding to councils because of a row over teacher numbers. It says the money has been earmarked to maintain teacher jobs, but local government body Cosla disagrees with the ringfencing. Most Scottish councils are looking at education cuts – including proposals to reduce learning hours, school buses, and classroom assistants – but only some, including Glasgow, have reduced teacher numbers. The important detail and context which BBC Scotland, the Herald and Scotsman never tell you: From 2017 to 2023, the number of pupils in … Continue reading What they don’t want you to know about in the ‘teacher numbers row’