Failing Scotland’s kids, unpopular Nicola Sturgeon presides over an ever increasing drop in standards at Scottish schools; working class kids robbed of life chances by the Nationalists as they chase independence, SNP is a one trick pony

Dear All

As readers of the blog, you will know that off and on, I have highlighted the ‘big three’ departments of State that the Scottish National Party has adjectively failed to deliver on.

Health, education, law and order!

Under the Salmond regime, he fired or moved Fiona Hyslop depending on your take on his actions; she made a complete pig’s ear of running the department and everyone and his brother was calling for her to be sacked.

Salmond moved her and in came Mike Russell.

Russell’s tenure like Hyslop’s was dogged by controversy, the SNP were incapable of turning education around, they weren’t putting the time and more importantly they didn’t know what they were doing. Toss in the fact that everyone more or less abandoned their desks to go chase indy and you have a disaster brewing under the surface.

In me yoof, I did a bit of teaching at University of Glasgow, that being said, they pretty much would let anyone teach, in fairness to myself, I was brilliant unlike some other people who were mediocre. You see I didn’t just teach the subject which was fitness, I taught people how to teach; thus my crowd were the ‘elite’ of the University gym community. One of the directors of the Sport and Recreation Service used to periodically come see one of my guys training, slightly unusual as he didn’t take part but just watched. Of course, you can pick up a lot by observation which was one of the key skills that my students learned, understanding and analysis is a useful asset to have. 

The SNP are incompetent, the reason for this is that they are a one trick pony, because that is the closeted mindset that everything is linked or about advancement to independence, they can’t focus on real issues. Now, the Nats led by unpopular Nicola Sturgeon have been accused of 'taking eye off ball' as literacy standards decline in Scottish schools.

This isn’t an overnight development, it has happened over years, the SNP really have let down Scotland’s children; they placed their future in jeopardy as they sought political gain over acting in a responsible manner.

You cannot trust Alex Salmond and you can’t trust Nicola Sturgeon, her current act of clutching onto every small child as a prop for a photo op is really obscene, because the kids are an expendable asset.   

Official figures revealed that standards of literacy have fallen in primary and secondary schools, education minister is Angela Constance, she is well out of her depth, but she part of the Sturgeon drive to get more women into the Cabinet to show that Sturgeon believes in equality. I look at this and see ‘equality’ only among the SNP cult and their ‘allies’.

The SNP don’t believe in equality, its all bullshit, the facts speak for themselves and make grim reading. Routes out of poverty are being closed down by unpopular Nicola Sturgeon and her cohorts, 140,000 college places lost to working class kids both male and female. The number of kids from the most disadvantaged backgrounds getting into university after 8 years of SNP mismanagement of government is still shockingly bad.

A report from Scotland’s chief statistician shows the performance of pupils in primary four, primary seven and second year has dropped between 2012 and 2014.

Why is this significant; because those were years that the Scottish independence campaign was running in Scotland! This news is a gift for opposition parties that rightly point out the SNP had “taken its eye of the ball” while trying to break-up the United Kingdom.

Some time ago, I said that the Curriculum for Excellence should be halted in its tracks until such time as it was fixed, you can ‘google’ that to get my posts on it. I took the view that because so many people were unhappy, to push forward would be counterproductive, because if the teachers don’t know what they are doing, how can they effectively teach well?

This confirmation that the most deprived pupils are lagging well behind is solely the fault of Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Another of my words of wisdom to the ‘stupid’ was that SNP Ministers needed to be sent back to their desks, you can ‘google’ that post if you feel inclined to see if yet again, I called the turn right.

I did!

In this election campaign Sturgeon is milking the lie that her party represents as the party of social justice. They ay if you repeat a lie often enough people, some people will accept it as the truth, but eventually the lie which is so toxic cannot be suppressed, truth bursts forth like a gusher, when it does, the liars experience meltdown, no one believes them anymore.

Liz Smith, the Scottish Conservative spokesman for young people, said:

“The SNP’s obsession with trying to break up the United Kingdom has meant that it has completely taken its eye of the ball when it comes to education and helping those from the most deprived backgrounds to succeed. The statistics also tell us that the number of young people doing well and very well in reading has declined. That is something which parents will find totally unacceptable.”

Iain Gray, Scottish Labour’s education spokesman, said SNP ministers had pulled Scotland out of international literacy studies because they “did not like the results”, but could not hide from their own figures.

He added:

“The decline in literacy levels is compounded by last year’s survey which showed a similar drop in numeracy levels. In the 21st century every child should expect the school system to provide them with the basic skills in literacy and numeracy they need for their future. They are being let down by this SNP government’s complacent approach to education.”

Liam McArthur, for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said the figures would have “alarm bells ringing with parents across the country”.

Angela Constance, the dud put in as Education Minister, said the results were “not as good as they should be” and work to improve reading and writing would be stepped up.

This is just meaningless pap from a shallow woman from a shallow party which has no depth and no substance.

The bottom line is year on year; the SNP has failed Scottish kids and thereby has lessened their life chances. If we accept the SNP have their ‘best’ at Holyrood, then we have to accept that lesser mortals are standing for them for Westminster.

Let’s cut to the chase, the SNP have fielded some right trash as candidates. Rather than standing for Westminster, they should be joining the kids in classrooms.

Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, put the causes of the blame where they should be, drop in teacher numbers, a rise in class numbers, and the workload of teachers was at an unsustainable level, and budget cuts were reducing resources.

He added “austerity has an impact on our schools and young people.”

Who said that the second term of the SNP Government should be about reform?

George Laird.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University