Commenting on the class size and teacher statistics published today, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Margaret Smith MSP said:

“If Fiona Hyslop had any sense, she’d jump before Headmaster Salmond gives her the boot.

“This is just the latest in a long series of failings. The Education Secretary is fast running out of people to blame.

“But that hasn’t stopped her trying that classic Scottish Government ploy of centralising the policy then localising the blame.

“The Education Secretary has tried to wriggle out of her terrible record on teacher numbers by saying that the pupil-teacher ratio has improved. Today’s statistics show that she’s failing on that too.

“The SNP promised lower class sizes and more teachers but delivered neither. The responsibility for both failures lands squarely on the shoulders of Alex Salmond and Fiona Hyslop.”