Global learning league table shows Scotland’s decline under SNP - Alex Cole-Hamilton

For a small country, we’ve certainly punched above our weight in terms of human progress. If you think about the advances made in modern history, stemming from our ancient universities and the Enlightenment, Scots have taken humanity forward in leaps and bounds in fields like medicine, communication and economic theory.

Nicola Sturgeon asked to be judged on closing Scotland's education attainment gap between (Picture: Andy Buchanan/pool/Getty Images)

Names like Adam Smith, Alexander Fleming and John Logie Baird are taught the planet over, sitting proudly among the intellects on which much of our modern world is built.

That Enlightenment was rooted in an education system that until recently was the envy of the world. Year after year we were among the leaders of the pack in international rankings for the quality of our learning and the attainment of our pupils.

But the SNP/Green government has squandered that proud legacy. In statistics published this week Scotland recorded its worst ever results across reading, science and maths in the PISA international comparison of 81 countries’ education systems, with England performing better on every measure.

Scottish ministers tried to spin this with a self-congratulatory press release, but there’s no getting away from the fact that, under the SNP, performance has slipped and stagnated and the attainment gap between rich kids and poor has remained vast. Our standing in this international survey peaked in the early 2000s when Liberal Democrats were in government in Scotland.

The pandemic has taken an unquestionable toll on things like mental health and school cohesion, with many kids forced to learn out of their bedrooms for months. That’s certainly had an impact on attainment, but this was a global event, its effects were felt everywhere, so that doesn’t explain Scotland falling down the worldwide rankings.

This comes down, like so many other aspects of public policy, to nationalist ministerial disinterest. The SNP came to power in 2007 with a promise to cut class sizes to as little as 18 for the youngest children. That has never been achieved in the 16 years they’ve been in government. “Judge me on my record on education” Nicola Sturgeon proudly proclaimed when she told us it would be her number one priority. Well, the judgement is in. Our young people and school staff deserve so much better.