Scotland Matters Letters

WITH regard to the recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which states that Scotland’s pupils are lagging further behind pupils in numerous other countries, the usual SNP excuse is that it is not their fault. This failure, according to Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, is down to Covid, which is the usual scapegoat these days. I wonder how our once enviable education system managed to carry on during two world wars and continued that success until the SNP was installed? Then again, Covid has been blamed for many things – which makes a change from the SNP’s default setting of blaming everything on Westminster. It may explain the SNP’s history of fail, fail, fail and could do better. But then they couldn’t do any worse… could they? Peter Mackie, Sauchie, Clackmannanshire.

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The decline of educational attainment in Scotland confirms the consequences of misallocating funds to support free university places (“Scotland’s pupils score record low results”, report, December 6). In maintaining this flawed policy, the SNP has forced a transfer of resources from the less well-off to the sons and daughters of wealthy Scots. Scotland’s economy and future prosperity have been badly damaged by this policy and the burden of additional taxes placed on Scottish workers. I benefited from state education in Scotland when that was something to cherish. However, despite their significant student debt, I am grateful my children were educated south of the border. Ian Mackenzie Broughton, Lancashire.

The latest PISA report on education in Europe shows Scotland continuing to drop in educational standards. This is now an established trend over the last 15 years. Regardless of the number of changes of education minister, things have gone from bad to worse. The SNP may try to use the Covid pandemic as an excuse, but it is noted that the class educational gap is also widening, highlighting the complete failure of the SNP to tackle this important devolved responsibility. It may be regarded as just another failure by the SNP to be added to the list, but it is the children of Scotland who will pay a high price for educational failure. Dennis Forbes Grattan.

GIVEN the state of Scottish education fewer children will be able to attain the high qualifications required for medicine. This is a problem for the future, but even now the Scottish NHS is short of 439 consultants. Michael Matheson, our embattled Health Secretary, has the solution. He says “we want to make careers in Scotland’s NHS attractive and well rewarded”. Mr Matheson seems not to have noticed that his colleague and supporter, Shona Robison, is almost certainly about to raise taxes for these self-same consultant posts here while the tax take in England will be consequently even lower for the same position. This sums up the SNP dilemma: how to rob Peter to pay Paul without any consequences. The answer is it cannot be done. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow.

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