Pandemic impact still being felt

John Swinney and the SNP promised that this term of parliament would be one of Covid recovery for our schools.

- BY WEST SCOTLAND LABOUR MSP PAUL O'KANE

Learning lessons The Covid pandemic had a huge impact on the academic progress of young people in schools

The pandemic significantly disrupted our children's learning and childhood.

Schools were closed for prolonged periods.

Teachers had to find new methods to deliver their lessons.

And let's not forget that John Swinney was the education secretary who downgraded the exam results of working-class kids in spite of that pandemic disruption.

The long-term consequences of such disruption is something we will not know for a long time.

But that's what made the mission of Covid recovery so critical.

We desperately needed to tackle challenges with violence and bad behaviour, attendance and attainment.

This week, we got the verdict on whether the SNP and John Swinney had delivered on that promise to parents, children and teachers that we would see a recovery in education.

The answer was decisive: they failed.