A consultation on possible changes to how schools are governed “excluded many parents”, according to an organisation representing parent teacher councils.
The Scottish Parent Teacher Council said it gathered more than 800 responses to submit to the Scottish government’s consultation.
But it said most respondents skipped questions about the school governance review itself.
The SPTC also said some parents were left puzzled by consultation events.
The Scottish government has said that more than 1,000 people and organisations responded directly to its consultation.
The responses it received came from a wide range of people including teachers, parents and other stakeholders.
The government intends to devolve more powers to head teachers, and is also looking at creating new regional education boards to work across council areas.
Some in local government fear councils will end up with a greatly-reduced practical role.
A government consultation closed on Friday, with detailed plans likely later this year.
In the introduction to its response, the SPTC highlighted what it sees as problems with aspects of the consultation itself.
‘Left puzzled’
It said: “While we gathered more than 800 responses, the majority of respondents skipped the questions about the governance review. This in itself communicates a great deal about the perspective of parents on this consultation.
“The feedback received regarding the consultation events has similarly indicated that parents who attended (and are therefore by definition motivated and engaged) have generally been left puzzled and feeling excluded from the debate.
“It is ironic that a document which has as one of its stated aims that parents should be more empowered, in fact excluded very many parents from participation.
“The consultation presumed high levels of knowledge about the existing governance model in Scottish education, and used language which would be familiar only to those working in the sector.
“It is tantamount to expecting a patient with a broken leg to understand the inner workings and operational structures of the various NHS services they might encounter: A&E, orthopaedics, anaesthesia, radiology, physiotherapy to name just a few.
“In reality, we know that the patient relies on the NHS to organise and provide the services needed to treat their injury, just as parents rely on schools and local authorities to organise and provide the educational support their child needs in the school system.”
Article originally published by BBC News
