Education reforms: Putting teachers in charge

Decentralisation drives improvement plan

“Decision-making must rest with schools” – John Swinney

Empowering schools to take the decisions necessary to improve children’s attainment will be at the heart of reforms being consulted on in the Scottish Government’s governance review, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said today.

Mr Swinney will formally launch the review on Tuesday, setting out the goal of making schools the key decision makers on children’s education and consulting on how to make that a reality. The review will consider how to best decentralise management to schools and how best to support teachers and headteachers in exercising their new responsibilities.

The Deputy First Minister said: “Our relentless focus will be on how we can build on the many strengths in Scottish education to close the attainment gap and deliver excellence and equity in our schools. We believe that the key to achieving this for all children depends on the quality of teaching and the relationship between teachers and children. That is why we are taking forward our commitment to make schools, their teachers and parents, the key decision makers in a child’s education.

“We have already initiated a range of targeted actions to close the equity gap and reduce classroom workload, but we want to go further. We want to ensure that the whole education system in Scotland is focused on supporting teachers do what they do best – teaching our young people.

“Our starting point is schools must have the flexibility to take the decisions that matter for children’s education. The governance review I will publish this week will begin with the presumption that decision-making must rest with schools. This approach poses the question of how the rest of the system can support teachers, headteachers and parents in that extended role.

“It will also consider how we can involve parents and the wider community better in the life of schools, because we know that there is strong global evidence that greater parental and community involvement promotes children’s attainment and achievement.”