The effect of initiatives on education

"Once more unto the breach". It's probably the politest phrase heard in staffrooms after the launch of yet anther government initiative.

The report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development charting where Scottish education stands on the world stage, seems to confirm teachers' suspicions that the seemingly never ending stream of initiatives here over the last ten years caused a great deal of upheaval and didn't necessarily make a big difference to children's education.

Can anyone even remember what half of them were called? It seems a blur of ministerial launches with photo opportunities in specially selected schools.

Lots of change and lots of money over the last decade but it seems we've slumped and are now treading water in maths, science and reading.

The Scottish Government says almost routinely at the end of every press statement that the Curriculum for Excellence will tackle all problems.

Dirk Van Damme head of educational research at the OECD and an authority on Scottish education, indicated in an article for Times Educational Supplement Scotland earlier this year, that he's not entirely convinced Scotland does even now have the right strategies in place. Time to go back to the drawing board?

Report claims Scots education system 'treading water'