A REVIEW into Scotland's secondary education system has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Scottish Government has said.
In response to a written question, Education Secretary John Swinney announced the final report on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-led review will be pushed back to June 2021.
It was initially expected to be published in February next year.
The review was won by opposition parties in Holyrood, who banded together to call for an independent study of the Curriculum for Excellence.
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Initially, a review was launched into the senior phase in Scottish secondary schools and was due to report in the summer but the defeat in the Scottish Parliament expanded the remit of the review to include the early phase.
In his answer to fellow SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald, Swinney said: "We remain committed to the review of Curriculum for Excellence and are progressing this by providing the OECD with a comprehensive written evidence pack which we are co-developing with partners.
"However, it is critical that we do not make any additional demands on the system at this time."
Scottish Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene claimed the delay is about "political expediency", pushing the report beyond the planned date for the Holyrood election.
Greene said: "Scottish education used to be the envy of the world but under the SNP we have been slipping down the league tables – the SNP Government should be pulling out all the stops to find out why.
"Delaying this report until days after next year's Holyrood election seems far more to do with political expediency than Covid-19."
Greene said it is important to ensure the final report is published before next year's election on May 6.
He added: "Tackling Covid-19 is everyone's top priority but there is simply no need for such a lengthy delay to this report – it must be published before May 2021."
Labour education spokesman Iain Gray described the move as "inevitable but disappointing".
He added: "Our schools went into the current crisis facing some significant problems such as the narrowing curriculum, falling pass rates and the systematic use of multi-level teaching.
"It took years to get the SNP Government to acknowledge these problems and accept the need for the review – that delay now means it has been caught up in the Covid-19 crisis.
"Reopening schools is going to be challenging but this review is looking at problems of structure and resource that will still need to be addressed in the longer term."
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