Ministers have been accused of ditching a flagship scheme to twin schools across council boundaries – despite a positive study by Glasgow University.

In 2013, the Scottish Government announced an initiative to partner underperforming schools with those punching above their weight in exams.

Michael Russell, the then Education Secretary, said the Scottish Improvement Partnership Programme (SIPP) would produce “real improvement” and be “long-term”.

Glasgow Times:

A £700,000 pilot project was set up between a number of local authorities, but national schools’ body Education Scotland has now confirmed there will be no new funding, despite a positive evaluation by Glasgow University.

The Scottish Government said the lessons learned on partnership working would be taken forward as part of its latest policy to close the attainment gap between rich and poor.

However, opposition politicians said the original aims of the scheme had never been delivered and accused the SNP government of short-termism.

Iain Gray, education spokesman for the Scottish Labour Party, said: “This is a classic case of the SNP’s approach to government in general and education in particular. A ministerial announcement with full fanfare, then forget about it and move on to the next photo opportunity.”

Liz Smith, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, added: “This is yet another example of a headlining grabbing approach unsupported by coherent strategic thinking for the longer term.”

Dr Alan Britton, a senior teacher from Glasgow University’s School of Education, called for a commitment to long-term policies to improve standards.

He said “It is a recurring theme that predates the current administration. The root cause of it is politicians making policy as spectacle  so that they are seen as being  active.

“The reality is that good educational reform isn’t politically sexy. It is a gradual process that builds on what we know works such as improvements in the competence of teachers.”

However, a spokeswoman for Education Scotland insisted the lessons learned from the initiative would continue to be employed.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The findings of the three-year pilot have played an important part in our approach to closing the attainment gap.

“The results of this early work are being shared widely across the education system and continue to inform both national and local approaches to improvement as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.”