The Best Investment In Scottish Education
12 May 2006
A letter from Tom Miers published in The Herald
Sir -
it’s worrying (if unsurprising) that the Executive failed to measure the educational impact of the 2.15bn McCrone settlement, as Audit Scotland reports (11th May). How are voters and parents supposed to assess its performance in this regard? The Executive should move swiftly to establish a reliable measure of state schools’ prowess compared to institutions abroad and in the private sector. But the best way to get value for money is the same in any industry: Give schools freedom to invest their resources how they want, and let parents judge the results by maximising their choice over where to send the kids. Pupils will follow the most successful educational methods on offer, and standards will rise across the board in response.
Tom Miers
Executive Director
Policy Institute
65 Queen Street
Edinburgh