Report to the People
28th June 2004
School of Little Thought
It
was often said of John Swinney that he was too nice be leader of the SNP. A
charge, I am happy to say, which has never been levelled at any of his likely
successors.
On
a personal level, I am sorry that his political career ended up the way it did.
When I was first elected to the Scottish Parliament, I worked with John
on the Enterprise Committee, of which, thanks to his co-operative and
constructive approach, he was an effective Convener.
Sadly for him, it seems these skills were not what his colleagues wanted
in a leader. (Although quite why
they didn’t think about that before they elected him is another matter.)
But
it’s not only the SNP hierarchy who have of late been asking “how did we get
into this mess?”. Parents in
Inverclyde are also wondering why, when nearly everyone else’s kids are either
in or looking forward to brand new classrooms, they are in a position where
schools such as Notre Dame are under threat.
Good
question.
We
had a perfectly good plan. A plan
which no less than Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education praised as
“well-founded” and which would have seen “every pupil being educated in
either a new or a refurbished school.” A
plan which was then scrapped – a decision which, the same Inspectorate
concludes, has led to an “unsatisfactory” situation that is already damaging
pupils’ education.
The
resultant delay has cost us dear.
Something
as simple as inflation means that the value of any cash which was set aside has
been reduced in real terms. And,
while specific detail is at a premium, it is clear that it will now take longer
to achieve less.
In
addition, pupils and parents have been left worried and alienated.
After all the unbelievable twists and turns, is it any wonder they feel
like mere spectators in their and their children’s education?
Despite
my intense frustration, we are where we are.
We can’t turn the clock back.
The
council now has a decision to make. But,
before it does so, it must listen to
the parents who regularly raise this issue with me in letters, emails and at my
surgeries. They are very clear in
their views and are determined to be heard.
The
council must take this consultation process seriously – as, if this community
is to get the schools it deserves, must we.
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