The SNP is quick to cast itself as Scotland’s default party of government, claiming competence and progress as its calling cards. But on education, that image is rapidly unravelling. New Freedom of Information figures expose a system in serious trouble, one that can no longer hide behind Covid or temporary disruption. This is a deep-rooted failure, built up over years of SNP control, and it is Scotland’s pupils who are bearing the consequences.
More than 73,000 children have missed at least half of their schooling since 2019, with over 6,000 not attending school at all during that period. These are staggering numbers. They point not to isolated hardship, but to a system that has lost sight of children who should have been its top priority.
Worse still, the true picture is likely even bleaker. Several councils failed to provide complete data, while one local authority provided none at all. When government supporters insist things are “improving”, they are doing so on the basis of partial information, while tens of thousands of pupils continue to slip through the cracks.
The long-term consequences of persistent absence are well established. Children who disengage from school are more likely to leave with no qualifications, struggle to find work, and become involved in criminal behaviour. Allowing absence on this scale to continue is not compassionate governance; it is negligence with predictable outcomes.
Yet instead of urgency, the response from ministers has been complacency. The Scottish Government prefers to talk about gradual recovery and national guidance, while parents, teachers and pupils deal with the reality of disrupted learning and diminishing support. Responsibility is quietly shifted onto families, even as the system around them fails to cope.
Teachers, meanwhile, are under immense strain. Nearly 600,000 teaching days have been lost to mental health-related absence in just a few years. This is not coincidence. Rising workloads, staff shortages and constant uncertainty have taken their toll. A government serious about education would start by protecting the wellbeing of the workforce that delivers it.
The situation in Glasgow perfectly captures the SNP’s skewed priorities. SNP-run Glasgow City Council came close to cutting hundreds of teaching posts, only retreating after public backlash. Now, despite ongoing budget pressures, it is offering a salary approaching £180,000 for a single senior education role. At a time when classrooms are overstretched and standards are under pressure, this sends entirely the wrong message.
Teaching unions have rightly questioned how councils can plead poverty when it comes to frontline staff, yet find vast sums for senior management. Parents are equally entitled to ask whether this is really where scarce education funding should be going.
All of this is happening against a backdrop of falling international performance and stubbornly high inequality. Scotland’s decline in PISA scores is not an abstract statistical issue; it reflects real pupils struggling with literacy, numeracy and confidence. The attainment gap remains, despite years of promises that it would be closed.
Education should be the SNP’s strongest suit. Instead, it has become one of its greatest liabilities. Too many children are absent, too many teachers are overwhelmed, and too many decisions appear detached from classroom reality.
Scotland’s pupils need more than optimistic press lines and selective statistics. They need a government willing to confront failure honestly, refocus spending on the frontline, and treat school attendance and educational standards as urgent national priorities. Until that happens, the SNP’s record on education will remain a damning indictment of misplaced priorities and missed opportunities.
