A Tory MSP has slammed figures which show a fall in the standards of literacy, reading, writing and listening in schools in Lanarkshire.
Central Scotland MSP, Graham Simpson, believes it is a sign of the "SNP’s continued failures in education".
Mr Simpson’s criticism comes after the publication of the National Improvement Framework report which shows a decline in standards in literacy, reading, writing and listening and talking since a previous report in 2018-19.
Analysis by the Scottish Conservatives has shown that in 31 out of 32 of Scotland’s local authorities, including North and South Lanarkshire, the percentage of pupils in P1, P4 and P7 achieving the expected attainment levels in literacy, reading and writing, is now lower than in 2018-19.
Similarly, in both Lanarkshire councils the percentage of pupils in P1, P4 and P7 achieving the expected levels in listening and talking also fell in the school session 2020-21. This was also the same for numeracy levels.
Mr Simpson also said that it is extremely concerning that fewer and fewer pupils in Lanarkshire are achieving the required levels of attainment in primary school and the figures fly in the face of SNP claims that education is their top priority.
He added: “Ensuring our pupils in Lanarkshire are leaving primary school with the required levels of basic attainment should always be a top priority.
“These figures make for deeply concerning reading given such dramatic falls in performance over the last few years across the board.
“It is shocking that so many pupils in are not hitting the required levels in reading, writing and numeracy.
“This lack of attainment in Lanarkshire should be an urgent wake-up call to SNP ministers to actually match their rhetoric about education by giving our schools the resources they need.”
But a spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said the figures are from 2020-21 so are not the most recent.
"Although our data indicates that there has been a slight drop in combined P1, 4 and 7 Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) percentage points due to the impact of the pandemic, in terms of the proportion of children reaching the expected levels in literacy and numeracy, attainment levels for North Lanarkshire are still higher than the national average," they said.
While Tony McDaid, executive director of education resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “These results are for school session 2020/21, which was more than 18 months ago, and perhaps reflect the difficult circumstances faced by children and teachers at the time.
“It is important to point out that the Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy in South Lanarkshire Council for school session 2020/21 were in the range of previous years and achieved after two years of significant disruption due to the COVID pandemic, including two separate periods of national school closures.
“The results for last session (2021/22) have not yet been published, although we are confident that, due to the hard work of school staff and support from families, these results will show a strong performance and ongoing improvement.”
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