Education, Children and Families convenor James Dalgleish writes in today's Scotsman after Scotland slips in education rankings
I was disheartened by the latest figures which showed that pupils in Scotland are falling behind England in school.
The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) noted children in Scotland and Wales fall behind England in reading, maths and science tests.
The study, which is published every three years, tests more than 760,000 15-year-olds from 91 countries.
While Scotland performed better than most countries in the research, we should not be allowing the attainment to decline.
This is in contrast to the results of the Qualifications Scotland results which saw a rise in attainment in Scotland and in Edinburgh, we saw improvements in almost all key areas. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many of our young people in their schools and can see how driven and determined they are to achieve good results and make a positive contribution to their school community.
While studies, exam results and qualifications are important, they are not the sole measure of the success.
Every child is an individual and we treat them that way, offering an education that suits their interests, abilities and ambitions.
We offer a large range of practical and hands on learning for our pupils that wish to pursue vocations such as beauty therapy, construction and hospitality. I’ve even enjoyed coffees made by pupils in our in-school barista bar(think this is a thing? I didn’t imagine it/) and saw the good work going on in our in-school salons with pupils learning how to style hair.
The Council is committed to our young people and giving them the best learning experience possible. Earlier this year we opened the doors to the new Liberton High School and work is almost complete at Wester Hailes High School, with pupils expected to move to the new building after the October break.
These state-of-the-art new schools have been designed with the needs of students, as well as the local community in mind. Our pupils need safe, modern, functional spaces to learn and these fantastic assets will provide even more opportunities and pathways for our students.
I know that all of our schools are full of dedicated, passionate and hard-working teachers and support staff who prioritise the needs of pupils to make sure that school is an enriching, formative and memorable experience, that sets our young people up for a lifetime of success.