Created on: 18 Apr 2007 | Last modified: 31 May 2018
The comprehensive system of education has been undoubtedly successful in raising standards and improving educational attainment and achievement for a great many young people.
As knowledge of teaching and learning improves, it is accompanied by changes in organisation, teaching methods, assessment and curricula, and a greater awareness and understanding of the barriers to education and learning. It is now possible to have a more open and responsive debate about continuing barriers to equality.
In Scotland, over 90% of teachers in nursery, primary and special schools are women; in secondary schools, for the first time, women are in the majority.
However, this has been set as a problem to be resolved rather than linked to the sustained improvement in attainment and achievement in Scottish education over the past years. The large number of women teachers should not be seen as the reason for boys’ apparent underachievement compared to that of girls.