Schools Inspectors (Hansard, 16 December 1992)

§ Mr. Lang

The parents charter in Scotland underlined the central role of independent inspection in assuring the quality of school education.

In carrying forward the principles of the charter, therefore, it is appropriate to affirm the important role of Her Majesty's inspectors, which was last described in a policy statement issued in 1983 by the then Secretary of State.

Reports by Her Majesty's inspectors have been published in recent years on more than half the schools and colleges in Scotland and on most colleges of education. Reports have also been published on educational matters of national significance in all sectors of education, such as aspects of the curriculum and school management. These reports have provided a basis for assessing standards, identifying needs and formulating guidance to the system. Also, in response to public concern to raise educational standards in a highly competitive world and to increase accountability, the Government 298W have promoted a number of measures to improve and strengthen the education system in Scotland, and have pursued new policies and new programmes to this end.

It is important that we have an inspection system that is independent of the providers of the education service. Education provision in Scotland is the responsibility of local education authorities or, in the case of independent and other schools, boards of governors, who also have responsibility for the allocation of resources. Her Majesty's inspectors will remain directly accountable to me. These arrangements will allow the inspectorate to continue to make and to publish independent and objective assessments of the standards and quality of education provision in Scotland. The effectiveness of their contribution rests firmly on their ability to offer such impartial judgments. Their appointment by royal warrant underscores their independent status.

The parents charter in Scotland undertakes that parents and the public will be kept fully informed of the state of the education service, the performance of individual schools and the progress of pupils. It commits the Government to ensuring that those responsible for providing education report regularly on their performance and on their standards. The approach to quality assurance in the charter envisages regular planning, internal review and public reporting every two years by each school to its school board. The inspectorate has recently published 299W guidance on how it assesses the quality of education in a school so as to assist authorities, teachers and parents to interpret how well a school is performing. Each school will be required to set out in a school development plan its educational achievements, including examination results, over the previous two years and its plans for a two year period ahead. This plan will be available to the parents of all existing and prospective pupils. It is an important objective that all those involved in education should be part of the total effort to maintain and improve quality.

I look to Her Majesty's inspectorate in Scotland to monitor and report on the implementation of these commitments, in the first instance through its inspection and audit of the school system. I look to its reports to provide frank and clear assessments of the strengths and weaknesses in schools and colleges, in teaching and learning, in attainment, in aspects of the curriculum and in management. The first priority of its reports will be to assess the standards being achieved and the arrangements made to monitor and improve these standards. They will identify good performance, and where performance is not good enough they will say what has been done; and they will assess value for money, in collaboration with the Accounts Commission as appropriate.

To further the aims of the charter the conduct and outcome of inspection will be made more public and more open. Henceforth, there will be discussion with the school board early in each inspection so that the views and concerns of parents are ascertained and can be taken fully into account in the inspection. Also, arrangements will be made to let local business men and women know through their local enterprise company and chamber of commerce of the intention to inspect a secondary school in their area and to give them an opportunity to offer the inspectors their views in advance; they will also receive copies of the relevant report. The practice of publishing a full report on each school inspection will be retained, but, in addition, a short summary of the report will be published for the convenience of parents. The action those responsible for provision intend to take in response to inspection recommendations and a report on the subsequent follow-up inspection visit will also be made available to parents and school board members. Steps are being taken to recruit as Her Majesty's inspectors people who have substantive, relevant experience gained beyond education and to involve lay people in inspections, with the objective of having lay participation in all inspection teams from school session 1994–95.

It will be a function of Her Majesty's inspectorate—through its newly formed audit unit—to monitor the performance of all schools and colleges through scrutiny of school and college development plans, examination results, attendance and truancy figures, the destination of leavers, costs and the findings of its inspections. I will expect it to identify elements requiring attention and improvement in individual institutions and in the system as a whole. These findings, which will be published, will also be used in structuring future inspection programmes. The first audit unit report "Examination Results in Scottish Schools 1990–92" was published on 16 November 1992.

Comprehensive revision and extension of evaluation and reporting arrangements in this way will improve the capacity of the inspectorate to observe performance and progress and to discern and publicise good practice and report weaknesses and omissions which need to be put 300W right. I look for improvements of this type in monitoring and reporting generally to provide a better basis and sharper focus for institutional inspections, and thus a more efficient and effective use of Her Majesty's inspectors in the field. I will fix a target number of inspections of schools and colleges to be completed each year. In 1993–94 I expect to see reports published on around 150 full inspections and the same number of follow-up inspections.

The inspectorate will play a central role in ensuring that the Government's aim of strengthening and improving the education system in Scotland is realised. The senior chief inspector will have direct access to me enabling him to provide frank and objective advice independent of the Scottish Office Education Department. I will expect to receive his professional views about how the Government might best achieve their objectives for education in a sound, coherent and practicable manner, and I will look to the inspectorate to ensure that new initiatives are imple-mented effectively.

It will be important for the inspectorate to maintain close contact with those concerned with the products of the education system, for example, employers and parents, to ensure that their views are known and taken fully into account in the work of the inspectorate, and with those in the wider community who should contribute towards improvements.

The distinctive and central role of HM inspectorate in Scottish education and the value of its work to the education system in the past has been widely recognised. I endorse its role as primarily responsible for independent and objective evaluation of the standards of the education system.