RUTH Marr (Letters, April 6) tells us that everything is rosy in the field of education in Scotland. Yet in December 2019 John Swinney admitted that four children out of 10 from Scotland’s poorest areas are leaving primary school without achieving expected literacy levels. This means that they are going into secondary school with one hand tied behind their backs. Is it then not unexpected that they also underperform in secondary? In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Scotland’s record in the subjects of reading, maths and the sciences has plummeted to pre-2012 levels. In the Scottish Parliament, these figures were described as shameful, appalling, and damming. Mr Swinney has been a disaster for Scotland’s education system and really should be considering his position. We used to have the best universities in the world, but now we only have one in the world top 30.
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Saoirse Ronan played Mary, Queen of Scots in 2018. But Dr Allan Kennedy of Dundee University says film and TV must cover broader subjects to improve our knowledge of Scottish history POOR TV about Scotland’s history helps perpetuate myths and misunderstandings about our place in the Union and the British empire, a leading historian says. Imagined versions of Scotland are seen on screen in shows like US time-travel romance Outlander or movies like 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots, which was criticised for its inaccurate portrayal of the monarch’s life and death. Now an expert in a key period of the country’s past says the broadcast of fact-filled documentaries and dramas could help dispel mistaken ideas about Scotland’s status, including the notion that it is a British colony.
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