25 IS THE NEW 18

One of the SNP's pre-electoral tissue issues was that under them, education would improve by leaps and bounds. It would need to. A vital component of the Scotch megamyth that SNP love to cuddle up to is the overstatement of educational progress. Scottish education was the best in the world, we gave it to the rest, a school in every parish, blah, blah.

Facts lead elsewhere. HMiE (Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Schools) suggest that 12% of all council aided schools do not meet what they call 'positive criteria'. Also that 10% of secondary schools were 'weak'. In view of the fact that all children only have one shot at all-through education, the response of the SNP's education spokesperson to suggest that exam attainment is perhaps not so important as all that, meets with a certain opposition and irritation from newly irated parents. The fact too that Scotland tends to prop up most international tables of successful education attainment seems to mean little.

What is slowly becoming recognised as the phenomenon known as Brownian Motion, ie turning away from problems that seem intractable or insoluble, is becoming a feature of SNP policy. Quite apart from its perky suggestion that Scottish schools are excellent and taking comfort from the teachers' unions inevitably egalitarian reflex that even the thought of league tables is bad, the SNP have resorted to their now customary tactic of reversing manifesto promises. All class sizes would be capped at 18 children in Primarys One to Three, they trumpeted. Sorry about that: it will be pegged at 25 now in Primary One classes.

This must inevitably mean few increases in teacher numbers in schools yet there are plenty of young trained teachers hanging around street corners waiting for a position. All of whom have cost money to train. The Sober Thistle detects signs of Brownian Motion.