What is the point of government which shows no leadership?
What is the point of Jenny Gilruth, Scotland’s education secretary? I ask, not out of any animus towards her, I have not met her, though I did once share an office with her wife.
She may well be a delightful person, someone who makes a first rate dinner party guest, but as the woman in charge of Scotland’s schools, she chalks up a big fat F.
Take last week. First, she publishes a 64-page document setting out new guidelines for schools in light of April’s Supreme Court ruling on sex. The ruling confirms the legal judgement that girls and boys should have single-sex toilets, but then goes on to say that headteachers can, if they wish, provide "gender-neutral” facilities, depending on the school community.
She muddied the waters even further by telling the BBC that while the Supreme Court ruling was “very clear” in relation to biological sex, she refused to say whether it remained acceptable for a boy who “identified” as female to use the girls’ toilets. The next day, she doubled down on her position in parliament, refusing to give a direct answer to Conservative MSP Pam Gosal, who asked if the updated guidance would still allow a trans pupil to use the toilet that fits their chosen identity.
Gilruth’s support for the notion that human beings can change their sex is well documented, so it perhaps not surprising that she struggles with the facts. But her personal views on this matter are irrelevant. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is clear: “Pupils who identify as trans girls should not be permitted to use the girls’ toilet or changing facilities, and pupils who identify as trans boys should not be permitted to use the boys’ toilet or changing facilities.”
The education secretary failed again last Wednesday when she refused to support a national ban on mobile phones in schools. Labour had argued in favour of a ban, saying that it would help make schools “calm and safe places to learn”. In the past, Gilruth has supported the principle of a “whole school” veto on phones, but last week she dismissed the idea that she, as education secretary, should take charge, passing the buck to headteachers.
Everyone, including the education secretary, knows the damage that smartphones can inflict on a child’s education. They are a constant source of distraction in the classroom, research shows a link between an excessive use of social media and lower grades, and phones are a platform for online bullying and harassment. There is no viable argument for children having their personal smartphone with them in the classroom, but there are many reasons why there should be a national ban.
New Zealand introduced a country-wide ban last year, and already teachers are reporting a much calmer environment in the classroom, with one school reporting a 20 per cent rise in exam scores. A piecemeal approach, where individual schools decide whether or not to ban phones, is a cowardly cop-out. Jenny Gilruth is the woman in charge of Scotland’s schools, and she owes it to our children and to teachers to show leadership, whether it is on same-sex toilets or smartphones.