Portfolio Education Interview
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No old school thinking
Paris Gourtsoyannis Staff Reporter
On business as usual in the education brief
Te Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party had to choose between two leaps into the unknown last month – either form an entirely new party, or try to right the existing one with a novice leader. Either way, the next few months were always set to be a period of upheaval for the Scottish Tories. Not for Liz Smith. She has stayed precisely
where she was. If newspaper reports are to be believed,
Smith – who acted as Murdo Fraser’s campaign manager – refused to be moved from the education brief following Ruth Davidson’s victory in the Scottish Tory leadership election. Hers was not the only alleged dissent, but it was the most successful – Smith was the only member of the Conservative frontbench team not to move portfolio, doing the former school teacher and international-standard cricketer’s no-nonsense reputation no harm at all. Given the testiness of Davidson’s election victory, it is unsurprising that wringing praise for her leader isn’t forthcoming when Smith is asked how the first few weeks under the new regime are going. “Very well, I think. It’s all exciting stuff, and [there are] a lot of challenges in the education scenario, so I’m fairly fired up about all that,” she says. Can she offer any reflections on the changes that Davidson has brought? “It’s far too early to tell that.” It is the week before public sector strikes
across the UK that will see, for the first time in a generation, mass industrial action by teachers in Scotland. Te SSTA has just put out a statement claiming that 99.9 per cent of state schools in Scotland will be shut by the action, and the weekend before saw a statement from the EIS that it would ballot its members if negotiations over the McCormac review went badly. Yet if Scottish teachers are in a mood to militate against the Tories in London, then they might be surprised to hear they have a degree of sympathy from at least one Tory in Edinburgh. “Teachers now feel that they’ve had the question of the Curriculum for Excellence on top of the Donaldson Review on top of David
Liz Smith MSP
Cameron’s report, now on top of the McCormac Review, all the while now local authority budgets are squeezed – so I think there’s a lot of concern there, and I think that has to be handled very sensitively,” Smith says. “Tat’s a challenge primarily for the Government but I think it’s a major challenge for the opposition parties too, engaging with the stakeholders.” While Smith is clear that any EIS ballot would
be “premature given that we’ve not had the chance to digest all of the McCormac Review,” she nonetheless expresses understanding for the
local issues come to the fore in disputes between unions and government. “I have sympathy, having been in the teaching profession myself; I have sympathy with the fact that it is a time of change, but I think that [a] time of change is inevitable. I also think it’s time to review quite a lot of things. I think most of the reports that have come out recently have been first class, with some very interesting ideas about how we take teaching forward not just in the next few years but well into the future, decades ahead.” Te tone of conciliation towards the unions doesn’t extend as far as the Scottish Government. Smiling at the suggestion that opponents of a merger between the universities of Abertay and Dundee could ‘declare victory’, after the institutions announced that they would remain indepent despite suggestions of ministerial pressure to merge, Smith highlights the role of the Education Committee in shaping the debate. “I think they were under very considerable
pressure through the Government and Scottish Funding Council to go ahead with the merger, and that was not appropriate. I also think the timescale they were given to react – five weeks, which was very severely criticised by Lord Sutherland when he came to the Education Committee –was a disgraceful way to handle the situation,” Smith says. “I mean, to give colleges and universities five
“Strike action is, I think, regrettable but nonetheless it shows the strength of feeling on quite a lot of these issues”
challenges being faced by her former colleagues. “Obviously there are very serious concerns amongst those in the teaching profession and those in the world of education generally about the fact that they feel under considerable pressure. Strike action is, I think, regrettable but nonetheless it shows the strength of feeling on quite a lot of these issues.” Smith adds that she has fears for the condition of industrial relations in Scottish schools, as
weeks to deliver their verdict on whether they think this is a viable opportunity or not was a ridiculous timescale, and I think perhaps the Government got a little bit of a fright about just how strong that feeling was.” Smith is also highly critical of the Government’s plans for a new Scottish Studies module in the national curriculum, adding: “Tere’s already a lot of pressure on PE, pressure on modern languages, we’ve got pressure on all kinds of other subjects, and I think that an extra subject coming in – what’s going to have to
give way?” With all parties having to adapt to their yet-
more marginal supporting roles in a majority- SNP administration, Smith balances her criticism of the handling of mergers and Gaelic with support for the Government’s direction of travel on the educational attainment of children in care – a topic that has dominated recent meetings of the Education Committee. In addition, the warmth with which she welcomed
12 December 2011
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