JOHN Swinney is finding out that being Education Secretary is one of the toughest jobs in Cabinet.
If he was Health Secretary, Swinney could effectively direct 21 NHS boards and control a £12 billion budget.
If a hospital bedpan was dropped in a corridor in Hairmyres hospital – to adapt the famous Nye Bevan line – the reverberations would echo around St Andrew's House.
Reforming schools is different. The Government has national goals, but the status quo means that 32 local authorities – each with their own mandate – are the delivery mechanism.
In 2007, the minority SNP administration policy wanted a Scotland-wide reduction in class sizes, but some councils resisted on the grounds of cost and effectiveness.
Ten years later, the Nationalist administration is determined to be in the driver seat, not the boot, when overseeing its latest flagship policy of closing the “attainment” gap.
Councils, which have been the key player in education for decades, are being stripped of power and influence, particularly over budgets.
However, even though the Government is rearranging the educational furniture, Swinney has long realised that effecting more than a makeover is a painful task.
In the SNP’s last Holyrood manifesto, the party boldly claimed that its “mission” was to make “significant progress” in “closing the gap” within the next parliament.
Weeks later, after Swinney’s appointment, “significant” progress was downgraded to “demonstrable”.
In the National Improvement Framework, an even tighter form of words – closing the “poverty-related” attainment gap – was wheeled out.
The longer-term ambition has also been watered down. In January 2016, Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted progress to be made in “completely eliminating” the gap within the next decade. Months later, “substantially” was back in fashion.
A more fundamental problem now presents itself for Swinney. The attainment “gap” is plural, not singular, and is visible in literacy and numeracy as well as in qualifications such as Highers.
Not only has the Government still to say which specific “gap” it wants to close, but ministers have not decided on how progress in reducing the divide will be measured.
If Swinney goes for a bold set of targets, he will risk being unable to meet his Government’s top priority and put his job at risk. If he opts for less ambitious goals, opposition parties will call him out for a political fix.
In previous administrations, national politicians could deflect blame onto local government for embarrassing school statistics. Under the current reforms, Swinney will have unprecedented control – but also full responsibility for when progress is slow, or non-existent.
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