Faint praise from SNP MSP

I see that SNP list MSP Stuart McMillan has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament welcoming the funding that my Administration allocated in our budget for 5 additional teachers and an expansion of breakfast clubs. Mr McMillan of course could not resist pointing out that his SNP colleagues proposed that 8 teachers should be employed.

Maybe he should also have pointed out that his colleagues had no chance of getting their proposal accepted by the Council as they were not prepared to enter into discussions with the ruling group or that they proposed spending £22m on a multi-storey car park in Cathcart Street.

On the subject of teachers and class sizes, Mr McMillan might wish to know that I recently had the opportunity to question a group of senior education professionals on what they thought of the SNP Government's obsession with lower class sizes. Not one of them was of the view that this should be a priority at a time of severe pressure on the public finances. All of them were of the view that the quality of teachers is more important than class sizes and that if funding was to be available for more teachers it should be targeted at the schools with the greatest need rather than those with the highest class sizes.