NOT only poor but stupid seems to be the view of those in Government planning yet another shake-up in the Scottish education system. Those families who live in depressed areas as a result of the poverty and bad housing policies of the 1960s, mostly in the west of Scotland, are to be lumped together by the new methods of pushing up school standards with different expectations for schools in “poor” areas and those serving “rich” areas.
Teachers struggling to encourage better all-round performances with pitiful resources and demoralising salaries are now being asked to jump higher still. Mr Dewar says “we cannot and should not tolerate underachievement”. Does this mean underachievement of staff or of pupils? One way or another it is not only patronising but offensive to both.
Teaching in Scotland is about achieving the highest educational standards for all.
Asking the profession to deliver without changing the financial framework is about as educationally sound as suggesting that because you are poor your child will grow up stupid.
Mrs Margery Fee. Urrdale Road, Glasgow
