Liam Kerr, the Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary, accused the governing party of showing a “lack of urgency”; Photo: SST/Alamy
Opposition politicians have accused the SNP of making “pathetic” progress on its election manifesto promising to end the postcode lottery in education.
The party has pledged to create a National Digital Organization in 2021. An academy that will give students full access to higher level subjects, no matter where they live or where their school is located.
The Scottish Conservatives claim that “not a single penny” has been spent on the academy in more than two-and-a-half years since the election, and just four civil servants are currently working on the plan, which is still in development.
The report sparked fresh criticism of the SNP's education efforts after Scottish pupils performed at record lows in reading, maths and science in an international study.
'Quite a shame'< p>Liam Kerr, the Scottish Conservatives' shadow education minister, said successive Scottish National Party education ministers had shown a “total lack of urgency” in delivering on a key election promise.
“The progress of the Scottish National Party in creating a National Digital Academy is nothing. not to say it's a pity. Jenny Gilruth [Education Secretary] must urgently explain why so few people are working on this key manifesto commitment and when academy plans will finally come to fruition.”
The criticism comes after teachers' leaders said they would demand from ministers for more funding following the Scottish Budget, which they say provides no additional resources for schools. Andrea Bradley, general secretary of the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) union, warned schools lacked the funding to cut class sizes and hire more teachers.
Earlier this month, a global study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that in mathematics Scotland has the widest achievement gap between the richest and poorest pupils of any UK country.
Program International OECD student assessments show Scotland has lost 18 points in maths since the last test in 2018, the equivalent of almost a full year of schooling.
Reading scores fell 11 points and science fell seven points, below the average among the 81 participating countries.
Laptop project delayed due to cutbacks
Last month it was revealed that the project A £14 million effort to provide a free laptop to every schoolchild, promised by the SNP ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, has again been delayed due to budget cuts.
Scotland The Government noted that 280,000 devices had been distributed to young people across Scotland and that ministers were considering options to meet the laptop commitment.
Mr Kerr added: “This failure to launch a digital academy is simply the latest in a list of failures Scottish National Party related to education. They have failed miserably at tackling the achievement gap in our schools and recently announced a further delay in the much-promised provision of free laptops for every pupil.”
The Scottish Government said work was underway to develop options. for the National Digital Academy with key stakeholders.
Responding to concerns raised by the EIS, the spokesperson added: “Children, young people, families and students continue to be a key priority for the Scottish Government, which is why the Education Budget and skills development in 2024-2022 has risen to more than £4.8 billion, with resource costs increasing by 5 percent compared to last year.”
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