Why a parent leader wants a whistleblowing hotline to flag concerns about Scottish schools

Gavin Yates, executive director of parents representative body Connect, said the move would improve the current process which can take a year to consider complaints.

He was giving evidence to Holyrood’s education committee as it considers draft legislation which would create a new body called Qualifications Scotland, as well as a new office named His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland.

The proposals for Qualifications Scotland, which will replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority, include new “charters” for learners and teachers, which could set out the ways action will be taken to address concerns from pupils and staff.

Mr Yates said: “Why no parents charter? It just seems parents have been, unfortunately, slightly forgotten.”

On the new inspectorate, he said the changes would result in more inspections of schools, which would increase public confidence.

However, Mr Yates added: “What process is there for parents to get involved in that? How can parents alert the inspectorate? They can’t.

“The process is really simple at the moment. If you’ve got a problem, you go to your local authority, the local authority then will cogitate, and if that doesn’t come to anything it goes to the SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman), and the SPSO as we know has got a waiting list of 16 weeks.

“So when you exhaust that possibility, the parent and the learner might have gone through a year, and that is disappointing actually.

“So actually what we would like to see is a whistleblowing process that the public, or a teacher, could go to the inspectorate and say, ‘please look at what is going on with teaching and learning at the school’.”

Mr Yates went on reveal that the biggest issue for members of Connect, previously known as the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, was the support available for pupils with additional support needs (ASN).

It comes as the number of ASN pupils in Scotland has soared from 36,544 in 2007 to 259,036 last year, now accounting for almost 37 per cent of the total roll, rising to 50 per cent in some areas.

Mr Yates said: “The greatest concern that parents have when they come to us in surveys... is ASN and ASL (additional support for learning). It’s the biggest by far.

“It’s the thing that exercises parents so greatly. And that is why so many parents that have got children with additional support needs join parent councils, to try and improve things in their schools, they give their volunteer time to improve that.

“And sometimes they feel like they are kind of hitting a brick wall. It’s a fight that kind of goes on every day.

“This is a much wider issue that just this Bill, but currently what we would say is that it is probably the greatest issue that affects Scottish education.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Bill will establish the office of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland, with enhanced independence, to undertake the education inspection functions which currently sit within Education Scotland. It will be a matter for the new body how it takes forward the process of inspections and the wider engagement around this.

“The education secretary looks forward to engaging with the education and skills committee as part of its evidence gathering sessions on the Bill.”