Humza Yousaf knows about the benefits of a traditional Scottish education: he got it at Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow. It is less widely available to others. For all the commitment of his government to improving standards, the present system seems increasingly trapped in a time warp reminiscent of the 1970s.
In those early days of the comprehensive system, qualities such as excellence, ambition, achievement and incentive were replaced by the concept of child-centred learning, with academic performance taking second place to the needs of the pupil.
