Neil Munro’s article (TESS, June 20) spotlights the root of the crisis in our schools by outlining the decline in achievement in primary schools and Brian Wilson’s hope that the 5-14 guidelines would make a difference.
Many in the profession feel that 5-14 has made a difference and the result is seen in this report. The primary curriculum has been stuffed full of assessment and record keeping while teachers are afforded too little time to teach language and numeracy.
Mr Wilson hoped that the postponement of Higher Still would give a breathing space to deal with 5-14; I thought the postponement was to give us time to deal with Higher Still. Alarm seems to be the keyword here - plenty of noise accompanied by lots of running around but not much sense.
JOE McGARTH
Laird Street, Coatbridge
