Neil Munro is spot on in his editorial comment last week regarding the HMIE report, Improving Scottish Education.

Teachers in schools across Scotland are working hard to fulfil ambitious expectations while struggling with limited resources and facing the likelihood of further cutbacks. In Edinburgh, the 2 per cent efficiency saving imposed by the Scottish Government, if applied to the council’s children and families department, would result in a reduction of around Pounds 100,000 in an average-sized secondary school budget, over and above previous cuts and deductions totalling around Pounds 45,000.

In terms of HMIE believing “A Curriculum for Excellence is the main driver of improvement”, headteachers are asking committed teachers to take lead roles in this far-reaching development, with no extra time or resource allocation.

Our political leaders’ unfortunate deficit in understanding this is exemplified by the inadequate allocation of one extra in-service day a year over three years. The lack of grasp of the reality of the complex tasks faced by schools, compounded by the lack of an appropriate level of funding, is what, to use Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop’s phrase, is “not good enough” for our pupils.

Rory Mackenzie, Fairmilehead, Edinburgh.