A landmark report has indicated that tens of thousands of children are underachieving because of patchy standards in Scottish schools.

The report, Improving Scottish Education, reveals concerns about the performance of a third of the council education departments which have direct control over schools, with the watchdog embarking on a programme of monitored improvement.

The Scottish Government’s Education Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, said the report showed “steady improvement” in Scottish education.

But she admitted that “steady improvement” was not good enough.

Ms Hyslop added: “This report is a wake-up call to every local authority, director of education, head teacher and school teacher.

The gap between young people who achieve and those who do not is too wide Graham Donaldson Head of HMIe Key findings from the report Reaction to report

“We need the very best leaders throughout the profession to work together to motivate and inspire, raise standards, increase consistency and provide the support and challenge needed to improve outcomes for all of our young people.”

The HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) report said that “many young people” were not making the progress they should from the middle stages of primary until well into their secondary education.

Primary schools, it said, were a strong point of Scottish education. But it added: “Too many lessons lack relevance, engagement, and excitement and fail to motivate learners.

“The pace of learning in too many lessons is slow and activities too frequently do not provide a sufficient challenge particularly for higher-achieving children.”

The report, which covered the period 2005 to 2008, is the second of its kind and follows the inspectors’ initial overview published in 2006.

Speaking as Scotland enters recession, the watchdog warned the education system must do better.

It said: “Critically, children in primary schools in a number of other countries are improving their performance at a faster rate than Scottish children.”

In general, the report said there was an urgent need to tackle weak teaching and underachievement along with standards in literacy, numeracy and science.

It also said youngsters who took part in cultural and sporting activities often did not win recognition because schools failed to put them forward for national awards.

Less than half of schools felt educational psychology services were having an impact on children with problems and many schools were failing to engage parents in their children’s education.

READ IN FULL Improving Scottish Education: A report by HMIe [2.63MB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here

The report added that boys underperformed in school and some vulnerable children - those with disabilities such as autism or deafness or children in care - were doing badly.

Graham Donaldson, head of HMIe, said that Scottish education in general was showing steady improvement.

He added: “At the same time, however, a number of significant problems remain and the need for further and faster improvement has grown.

“Scotland’s future economic prosperity requires an education system within which the population as a whole will develop the kind of knowledge, skills and attributes which will equip them personally, socially and economically to thrive in the 21st Century.”

He highlighted a recent OECD report which indicated Scotland was not as good as many other countries at helping children do well despite their disadvantaged backgrounds.

Mr Donaldson added: “The gap between young people who achieve and those who do not is too wide.”

He also highlighted a report last month, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, which indicated Scottish schools were left trailing by countries such as Latvia, England and Kazakhstan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7828500.stm