Highland Conservative leader slates 'spin' of celebrating education chair

Following the publication of the ACEL – Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels – results, the Conservative Group Leader on Highland Council has criticised the chair of education for "shameless spin".

Councillor Ruaraidh Stewart said today: "The hard work of our pupils, teachers, and staff has led to a slight increase in primary school attainment levels, which is commendable.

"However, despite the efforts of Councillor Finlayson to portray the results as a reason for celebration, the harsh reality is at P1, P4, and P7 levels, shockingly, 35% of Highland's primary school children are functionally illiterate, and almost one-third are functionally innumerate."

Councillor Stewart, after hearing Mr Finlayson's remarks, stated: "I'm certainly not celebrating this news.

"Under the watchful eye of Councillor Finlayson, Highland Council has earned the unenviable title of being the worst-performing local authority in Scotland in terms of literacy and numeracy for five consecutive years.

"This persistent under-performance is not a mere statistic; it is indicative of deep-seated, systemic issues that necessitate immediate attention and action. Rather than acknowledge the severe challenges confronting Highland's pupils, parents, and teachers, Councillor Finlayson appears to be more invested in misrepresenting the reality of the situation.

"Our children and the school community are entitled to better, and Councillor Finlayson should be ashamed."

The Conservative group leader urged the Highland Council's joint SNP/Independent administration to move beyond rhetoric and look at effective strategies and allocating adequate resources to our schools.

Mr Stewart said: "What we need is action rather than engaging in self-congratulatory statements that deflect from the critical issues at hand."

Commenting on the results, Councillor Helen Crawford said: “Last year, the full Highland Council refused to vote for my cross-party Motion, the first of the new five-year session, for an Education Recovery Plan, focussing on improving literacy and numeracy.

"We were told that action was being taken and these matters were better raised at the Education Committee.

"Last month, the education committee refused my motion to consider fostering links with a top ranking council, and it refused to entertain calls for a report to better understand the impact of poor school buildings on attainment.

Given these latest ACEL figures, published by ScotGov today, I think parents and teachers will want to know what significant and strategic steps Highland Council is now going to take to make the difference for our children and to better support our teaching staff.”

Councillor Stewart concluded: "For the sake of accountability, I call on Councillor Finlayson to step down from his position as chair of education. We urgently need new leadership ready to take decisive action and show genuine commitment to address the challenges faced by our pupils and the wider school community.

"It is no longer acceptable to keep pretending that everything is 'good news'."

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