Highlands and Islands MSP Donald Cameron has forced SNP education minister John Swinney to admit that performance levels in schools in Highland need to improve.

Mr Cameron put the Education Secretary on the spot during a debate in the Scottish Parliament (on Wednesday 18th December) when he confronted Mr Swinney with figures which showed only 60% of Primary 7 pupils have reached the expected level for writing and just 62% for numeracy.

In his reply to Mr Cameron, Mr Swinney admitted that: “He (Mr Cameron) is quite right that performance levels in Highland schools need to improve.”

The Scottish Conservative MSP said: “These statistics make a mockery of Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that education is her top priority.

“This news follows hard on the heels of the embarrassing withdrawal of the SNP’s Educarion Bill, and the publication of the PISA report on schooling which shows how far behind other countries Scotland has fallen under the SNP.

“There is no excuse for this. Our young people are not gaining the essential knowledge they need to fulfil their potential.

“The SNP have run Scotland's schools for over 12 years now: they simply must do better when it comes to education.”