The Scottish government has been accused of a “stitch-up” after it emerged that an international review of Scotland’s schools has already been delivered - but there are no plans to publish it until after the Scottish Parliament election in May.
A draft of the findings of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) review of Curriculum for Excellence was completed last month, according to documents received by the Scottish Liberal Democrats and reported in The Sunday Post.
However, the review, which was originally due to be published this month, will not be released until June, with ministers blaming the pandemic for the delay.
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Ministers and civil servants will meet today to discuss the review and provide feedback to the authors. The OECD will then deliver a completed draft report on 3 March before ministers provide further comments.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie has demanded the publication of an “unedited” interim OECD report before the election.
‘Jiggery-pokery’ over OECD review of Curriculum for Excellence
He told The Sunday Post: “Only this SNP government could set up an independent review of Scottish education which schedules in months of ministerial editing and other jiggery-pokery. It is scandalous that SNP ministers get to see the first findings from the OECD six months before anyone else. Conveniently, the rest of us only get sight of anything after the Holyrood elections.
“Who knows what that will look like, given these new documents show ministers will already be scribbling notes on the OECD’s first draft.
“We need an unedited OECD interim report before the election, and one that doesn’t have SNP ministers’ fingerprints all over it.”
Beatrice Wishart, the Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson, accused the government of a “stitch-up”.
She added: “I will be asking colleagues on the education committee to recall [education secretary] John Swinney to discuss these revelations.”
The comprehensive review of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was sparked by fears that there are significant weaknesses in the Scottish education system.
Originally, the Scottish government had planned to carry out a review of just the three final years of secondary when students take their qualifications.
However, a defeat in the Scottish Parliament in January 2020 forced the Scottish government to change its plans and carry out not just a review of the final three years of secondary school (S4-6, the “senior phase”) but “a full review of the broad general education [up to S3] and how it articulates with the senior phase”.
Mr Swinney maintained at the time that the review would be “more a curricular assessment than qualifications assessment” but he needed the support of the Greens to survive a motion of no confidence in the Scottish Parliament in August of last year, following the exams fiasco.
One of the conditions demanded by the Greens for providing that support was a review of the exams and assessment system; the government agreed to incorporate that review into the ongoing OECD review.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “The OECD has been engaging virtually with stakeholders over the last few months and have met with a wide range of education bodies as well as undertaking virtual school visits.
“They will be holding an engagement event at the beginning of March, where they will share emerging messages with stakeholders, providing a further opportunity for key partners and practitioners in Scotland to inform the final report, which will be published in June 2021.”
