A dramatic fall in number of nursery inspections in Scotland
Over the last five years, the number of nursery insepctions in Scotland has decreased. With a dramatic decline in numbers, it will mean if this continues it will take 18 years to inspect all nurseries in Scotland.
According to John Swinney (SNP Government Education Secretary), nursery inspections have dropped from 201 in 2011 to 135 in the last year. These figures show that they have dropped by a third.
It is suggested that some nursery inspections will continue to fall and if it is projected that 135 inspections are carried out over a year, it will take 18 years to inspection 2,449 nurseries in Scotland.
With many nurseries not being inspected regularly, there are fears that standards will fall and the aim of closing the attainment gap will increase further.
According to the Education Scotland, the demand for more inspectors with specific skills in the early year’s sector is being looked into; this will allow for more inspections to take place.