Hard to get noticed

We are not short of eye-catching headlines in Scotland: “Ferries launched with painted-on windows but not in service”; “Rapists in women’s prisons”; “Cats to be banned”.

You can understand then why an opposition politician – in this case Russell Findlay, the Tory leader and erstwhile tabloid journalist – might reach for a bit of shock-and-awe policy to get noticed.

At a Reform Scotland event this month, Mr Findlay called for a reduction in the school leaving age to 14. With a speed rarely associated with the SNP Scottish Government in addressing the crisis in our public services, ministers denounced the idea. It was not long before talk of chimney sweep opportunities for urchins and children being endangered in the dark Satanic mills of modern industry filled the air. As night follows day, this attention-seeking policy option sparked for a debate about what is to be done for our young people. We were instantly back to evidence-free platitudes and anodyne general concern – much to everyone’s relief. The leaving age policy may never be raised again except as a chance to deride the Scottish Tory leader as a modern day Gradgrind.

This is a tale that reflects so much of what passes for political debate in Scotland. Fun, I guess, for those who get to do the denouncing. But thinking is sacrificed.

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not support the reduction of the school leaving age and believe we need to invest in education and our public services so that all our young people can thrive and achieve their potential. But the current approach to ‘debate’ brings a heavy cost, for it obscures the perilous nature of Scottish education. And it hides the long-term consequences for all too many from a Scottish Government which would score A+ for assertion but is in utter failure territory for delivery.

The attainment gap in Scotland remains a scandal of lost chances, with many young people now leaving with few or no qualifications.  While the school leaving age remains at 16, the truth is that all too many of our young people have effectively dropped out of school by the time they are 14. The stripping away of the scaffolding around compulsory education – attendance officers, home links workers, in-school support for those affected by family circumstances or learning needs – has had a profound impact. As with so much of public policy in modern Scotland, compulsory education until 16 is largely theoretical.

And in the eagerness to attack, the Scottish Government misses the opportunity to learn from past action. It was only about two minutes ago that there was cross party support for pre-apprenticeship schemes and the use of college as a means of diverting young people who were in danger of falling out of education altogether into learning paths that allowed them to flourish. Those initiatives floundered for a lack of funding and a lack of seriousness amongst those in government who, evidence would suggest, were off hunting a new shiny toy to hold up to the sun.

While these serious times require thoughtfulness and rigour, we have instead what seems closer to wilful amnesia, the hunting down of the dividing line and the denunciatory soundbite.

If it were a game, I guess we could just withdraw and watch the football. But the sheer wastefulness of time and resources in the pursuit of non-arguments should be an affront. Young people, and most particularly those from poorer backgrounds, disproportionately hit by the fallout from lockdown, now are denied future hope by the indulgence of knockabout masquerading as politics.

We should insist questions are answered.

What can we do – must we do – to restore Scottish education and give our young people a chance and our society the benefits of their talents?

Answers on both sides of the paper and leave the slogans for those selling beans.

Johann Lamont was leader of Scottish Labour from 2011 to 2014, and an MSP between 1999 and 2021. She is a member of Reform Scotland’s Commission on School Reform