A LOCAL politician has hit out after it emerged that one in five Borders schools haven't been fully inspected in the past decade.

Education Scotland send inspectors into the classrooms in a bid to raise standards.

But the majority (37 of the 71) of local primaries and secondaries haven't been visited for a general inspection since 2011.

MP John Lamont believes the figures show the Scottish Government is failing Borders pupils.

He said: “Parents in the Borders will find it shocking that one in five schools have been waiting more than a decade for an assessment by Education Scotland.

"While I understand that inspections can be stressful for teachers, they need to be taking place more regularly than they are.

"Inspections are vital for parents to make an informed choice about their child’s education.

"Many young families look at these reports before a potential move and with so many out of date in the Borders, it can only be putting people off.

"But our hard-working teachers are also being let down because inspections provide important feedback and advice."

Among the 14 local schools which haven't been fully inspected in the past decade are Hawick High School (September, 2003), Priorsford Primary (September, 2006), Stow Primary (June, 2008), Walkerburn Primary (September, 2007), Broomlands Primary (October, 2007), Fountainhall Primary (October, 2007), Jedburgh Grammar School (October, 2008) and Eyemouth High (November, 2005).

It's also been nine years since Berwickshire High was inspected, eight years since Earlston High, seven years since either Peebles High or Kelso High were visited and five years since Galashiels Academy was graded.

One of the functions of the national agency, Education Scotland is to evaluate the quality of learning and teaching in schools.

And inspections were meant to take place more regularly after the agency was criticised last year.

Mr Lamont MP added: "Education is meant to be the Scottish Government’s number one priority, so you would think there would be enough resources dedicated to be able to inspect our schools more regularly.

“At this rate, it would take Education Scotland more than 25 years to get round each school in the Scottish Borders and that suggests to me that the system is not fit for purpose.”