A new report warns that Scotland’s schools are losing control of discipline. Brian Taylor says that must be a call to action

Did you note, like me, that more pupils now take exams in PE than in all languages, combined? My response, I confess, was mild despair.

Still, I suppose it means that, when we visit foreign climes, we will be able to outrun the locals. Just not to converse with them in their own tongues.

Ach enough, Brian, enough. Sideline the cynicism before you are ordered to run five laps. Seriously, I do not mean to sound so curmudgeonly. I laud the value of physical education.

But still I fret about the standing of our school system. Does it encourage excellence, as the curriculum advertises? Or does it engender mediocrity?

This week we learned that Scottish ministers are to come up with the cash to enable pupils to take part in a week of residential outdoor learning.

Once again, viewed individually, the plan appears admirable. Who would want to prevent our offspring from experiencing nature, from learning about the environment?

The snag is what happens when they return from their bucolic sojourn. Will there be comparable enthusiasm for algebra, German grammar and organic chemistry?

I know, I know, how boring, how dull. Education needs breadth, not depth. We need to bring out our social nature, not simply acquire information which might advance Scotland and, incidentally, our own prospects.

In truth, our schools try. They strive purposefully. And so do our best-motivated youngsters. Many study diligently and........

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