Look What the Old Boy Done

A couple of weeks ago I looked at just what Labour had promised us on taxation. Unlike Kezia Dugdale through her red rose tinted glasses I gave them a less than exemplary grade. Which leads nicely unto education.

We all rememebr the mantra leading up to the 1997 Election, when at the 1996 conference Blair pormises:

"Ask me my three main priorities for government, and I tell you: education, education, education."

So lets take a case study, some where where education and politics both have influencial sons. I suggest Kirkcaldy in Fife home of Adam Smith one of the pioneers of political economics and also the town where as a three year old the Prime Minister moved and was educated before he crossed the Forth to attend Edinburgh University.

Now there are 4 high schools in Kirkcaldy, but as Education, Education, Education was the mantra of the Labour governemnt we'll base our case study in Brown's alma mater Kirkcaldy High. Now surely the Labour Chancellor, Blair's right hand would ensure that the matra applied to his old school, that it would now be an excellent example of Labour education policy for Scotland.

Wrong! Far from being at the pinnicle of education Kirkcaldy High's report card read most do better. It is actually one of the worse schools in Scotland. Lindsay Roy was tasked for pulling the school out a spiral of decline in 2006 after Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) criticised the school for poor exam results, low staff morale, and disruptive behaviour among pupils. Having been honoured for services to education the appointment looked like a wise choise, however the progress report has classed the school "weak" the second lowest of six grades. The report went on to say:

"There had been no improvement, and in fact some decline, in levels of performance in external examinations. The school's overall response to the main points for action in the 2006 report had been weak."

Contrast with the first year of after the election when "good progress" was found to be made at the school. Of course as education is now devolved it doesn't really fall under the MP who has a nice London address of 10 Downing Street to sort out the current mess.

Whoops look like another new Labour pledge that has fallen by the wayside.