Learning from the Scandanavians

I see from the Herald newspaper that local authorities in Scotland are being encouraged by the Education Secretary Mike Russell to visit Sweden and Finland to learn lessons about the delivery of education. Mr Russell is just back from a fact-finding visit to these countries.

Apparently the Education Secretary thinks that the Swedish model of "free schools", which exist alongside state-run schools but are independently run, is worthy of consideration. He also points to the quality of the teaching profession in Finland as an example to follow.

It seems that Mr Russell wants to encourage a wide ranging debate over the way our schools are run.

I have to say however that before we book our flights to Stockholm and Helsinki it would be helpful if the Education Secretary could set out for us what he believes is so fundamentally wrong with the current Scottish education system.

I am all for learning from good practice - no matter where it comes from - but I have to say that there is plenty of good practice in this country that we could learn from before we rack up the air miles (I can imagine the public reaction if our Education Convener jetted off to Scandinavia for a few days given the focus on politicians' expenses these days!). There are many Councils, and far more schools, across Scotland delivering high quality education to our young people.

Our own Education Service in Inverclyde has a very good reputation and we are generally regarded as punching above our weight. While not complacent in any way - there is always scope for improvement - I would be more than happy to welcome the Education Secretary to Inverclyde to see at first hand the good work taking place in our schools.