It will not have escaped your attention that the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have shown, shamefully, that under successive SNP Governments Scottish Education has fallen in each measurement to the point where, for the first time, Scotland’s PISA scores are below the OECD average.
To put it in real terms: the PISA scores tell us that on average, a Scottish student at S3/4 level is one year behind their English counterpart in Maths, and around 6 months behind in Reading and Science.
Most countries in the survey saw a drop in their scores given the fallout from Covid pandemic, which still affects so many lives. But the fact that Scotland has not pursued a policy of educational catch-up is staggering –While Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skill I proposed a substantial catch-up effort two years ago that was rejected.  The country is paying the price for years of SNP mismanaging our schools.
I raised this on the BBC last week – the simple fact of the matter is the SNP are out of ideas and out of time.
Let us hope that the new year gives opportunity to usher in change across Scotland and across the UK.