Officials had summarised the views of headteachers, school board chairs and the city’s student council as Glasgow’s contribution to the national debate. Chris Mason of the Liberal Democrats noted that the old spoke almost entirely in terms of modes and skills with the young concentrating on subjects and “things that people need to know” such as grammar.

Mr Mason said: “The emphasis from the adult world seems to be that all you need to know is learning to read, write and count - the rest you just look up.”

The views of headteachers were dismissed by Pat Chalmers, a Labour councillor, as “simply a bland use of buzz-words”.

Larry Flanagan, who represents teachers on the committee, felt the council should have nailed its colours more firmly to the mast of smaller class sizes. Mr Flanagan also called for less emphasis on teacher incompetence and “a more inclusive sense of guilt”.