SNP government slammed for 'ploughing ahead' with P1 testing despite opposition

13.11.2022 - 19:01 / dailyrecord.co.uk

The SNP government has been slammed for "ploughing ahead" with P1 testing despite concerns about the policy from a senior figure in the party and opposition MSPs.

Toni Giugliano, the SNP's policy chief, has previously said testing four and five year olds as "compounding pressures and mental health problems".

In 2018 the Scottish Parliament voted by 63 votes to 61 for a motion calling for the government to halt tests among primary one pupils. Despite this there have been 280,000 tests carried out until July 13, 2022.

Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, responding to a written parliamentary question from Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie, said "there are no plans to discontinue national standardised assessments for P1 learners".

Rennie hit out at the SNP branding the tests a "waste of time", while the government said there was "no evidence of the assessments having a negative impact on the health and wellbeing".

The former Scottish Lib Dem leader added: "The SNP’s blinkered determination to plough ahead with P1 testing ignores the voices of parents, teachers, parliament and even their party’s own policy convenor.

"The unequivocal message from teachers has been and continues to be that these pointless tests tell them nothing that they do not know already. It is an utter waste of time and a dangerous blockade that gets in the way of learning for more than 40,000 children every year.

"In ignoring the will of parliament, the SNP are behaving in a profoundly undemocratic way. They seem to only want the Scottish Parliament to be a talking shop for independence. They don’t like accountability, transparency or doing what is best for our children. The Education Secretary is delusional if she thinks these tests are helping.

"Once upon a