Gove urges SNP to put aside party politics and learn from English schools

The former UK Conservative education secretary previously offered to work with the SNP government to boost educational outcomes.

It follows the latest results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which is carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and looks at the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in countries across the world.

The results put English pupils ahead of their counterparts in Scotland in terms of standards in reading, maths and science.

SNP Education Secretary Maíri McAllan she was "not content with stabilisation" and wanted to "arrest and reverse the declines that we've seen". She said she would pursue reforms “vigorously”.

READ MORE: Curriculum change is coming insists education secretary after PISA woe

However, she insisted Lord Gove was “not at the top of my list of those to meet and take advice from”.

Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show, Lord Gove, who was education secretary between 2010 and 2014, said: "I think that when you're a minister you have to follow the evidence, and all the evidence is that during the course of the last 15 years, Scotland has moved from having a superior education system, a superior school system to England, to one where it has fallen dramatically behind."

He said the lack of knowledge and rigour in Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence was part of the problem.

"I hope that Maíri, even if she doesn't want to meet with me, will come to England, visit those schools that are doing well, and learn from them,” he said.

Lord Gove added: "I wouldn't argue that the situation in any part of the United Kingdom is perfect, Maíri McAllan is right, we all need to learn from each other and improve.

"But what I would hope would be the case is that ministers in Scotland would put aside party political arguments in the interests of children.

"Everything that I sought to do as education secretary was to say that adults need to put their egos and their interests in second place.

"What matters is what children learn so that they can become confident authors of their own life story."

Speaking on the same programme, Ms McAllan said she was “currently undertaking the largest reform to Curriculum for Excellence, the content of our curriculum, since its inception”.

She said she was also taking "decisive action" to ban mobile phones in classrooms.

"I am very pragmatic and open-minded about learning from education systems around the world, in order to achieve what I want to achieve, which is both academic excellence and vocation strength in our education system,” she said.

Asked if she would take Mr Gove up on his offer, Ms McAllan said: "I am very pleased to discuss with anyone constructively what changes can be made, but as I say we already have underway a significant programme of reform in Scotland, and in fact that's reaching fruition now."

She added: "With all respect to Mr Gove and what he undertook as education secretary in England, as one of the principal architects of austerity, welfare reform and Brexit, which governments throughout the UK are still trying to help our communities and our economy recover from, with all respect to him he's not at the top of my list of those to meet and take advice from."

She said she would be a "reforming Education Secretary”, adding: “I do not intend to stand still. I will pursue these reforms vigorously and I will have the very best outcomes for all our children in Scotland at the core of how I pursue that."

Writing in Scotland on Sunday, Ms McAllan said Scotland performed significantly above the OECD average in four of the five measured domains - reading, science, computational problem solving and environmental science.

“I am currently leading the largest reform to Curriculum for Excellence since its inception,” she wrote. “This reform, which began before this year’s Pisa results, will, among other things, strengthen knowledge in our curriculum and clarify progression through learning to ensure rigour and excellence.

“This will accompany legislation which I am bringing forward to decisively end mobile phones in the classroom on a nationwide basis and will set all of this within the unique opportunity of improvement that the First Minister’s public service reform agenda affords.

“Progress and change is coming.”

Scottish Labour education spokesperson Katherine Sangster accused Ms McAllan of being in denial.

She said: "Parents will be deeply frustrated to hear yet more excuses from another SNP minister on Scotland's falling education standards.

"Alarm bells have been ringing for years about the challenges our schools face, but the SNP show no ambition for our children and no curiosity about what has gone wrong.

"No-one will be convinced by Mairi McAllan's TV appearance that the Scottish government has fully grasped the scale of the issues that must be tackled.

"Pupils in Scotland are now behind their peers in England when it comes to reading, maths, and science tests.

"However, Mairi McAllan stubbornly refuses to even consider there are lessons to be learned from England.

"The SNP should be apologising to parents and pupils for their dismal failings, not offering up more excuses."

Scottish Conservative education spokeswoman Meghan Gallacher said: "The SNP are desperately trying to downplay Scotland's worst Pisa results since 2000.

"Instead of taking responsibility for this failure of her government, the education secretary tried to deflect and make excuses.

"Pupils, parents and teachers have been failed by a government that spends more time thinking about independence than everything else combined.

"A long line of Nationalist ministers and First Ministers promised that education would be their top priority, yet standards have fallen and Scotland's international standing has toppled.

"The SNP must stop pretending everything is fine, be honest about the damage that has been done and set out a credible plan to turn Scotland's schools around."