Primary school teachers have been employed in Glasgow's high schools to tackle the increasing number of new secondary pupils who cannot read properly. These teachers are delivering intensive catch-up classes for first-year students who lack basic literacy skills.
Currently, primary-qualified teaching staff are working in 14 of Glasgow's 30 secondary schools to enhance literacy and numeracy. The majority of children receiving support through this project have English as their first language.
Glasgow's education director, John McGhee, stated that addressing this issue is a "moral imperative". He noted that he observed an increasing number of young people entering high school with very basic literacy skills, with some unable to read, during his previous role as a head teacher.
Scotland's performance in reading in the 2025 Pisa international education study was 488, a drop from 493 in 2022 and 526 in 2000. While the Scottish government indicated that changes between the 2022 and 2025 studies were not statistically significant, the longer-term decline in reading standards since 2000 is statistically significant.