Councillor Liz Fordyce, the SNP's Education Convener in Dundee yesterday made a startling statement to the Evening Telegraph about her 19 separate cuts in Dundee schools.She "insisted budget cuts of more than £4million will make the city's education service better."
By her own logic, I wonder why she's holding back and not cutting the education budget by £8 million to make our schools even better!
Today, I want to examine, 'the city campus' idea for senior secondary pupils. This would see a narrower range of higher and advance higher classes offered in some secondary schools with pupils moving around the city to take subjects not offered in their own schools.
I fear that "the city campus" will make many of our secondary schools less comprehensive by siphoning off their pupils in the fifth and sixth years. This could lead to two tier secondary schools and a reintroduction of junior secondary schools by the back door.
The SNP have clearly not thought this through. Yesterday, their Education Convener revealed that she had yet considered the transport arrangements and costs of moving pupils round the city. This morning she admitted that the timetabling necessary between the nine secondary schools in the city had yet to be worked out too.
Half-baked and misguided or what?
