The current stooshie over the number of National Four and Five courses and exams taken by Scottish secondary pupils comes as no surprise. It is simply another manifestation of the in-built conservatism and inertia of our educational system. Once again, it is a case of never mind the quality feel the width, or perhaps more accurately on this occasion, the quantity. It marks another stage in the strange death of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE).

Many of us were broadly supportive of the principles underlying the CfE reforms. We would have liked them to be bolder, but at least they offered the prospect of more time for youngsters to study subjects and topics in more depth. Why, there was even the beguiling possibility of innovative and creative approaches to teaching and assessment, focusing more sharply on learning and its application.

We were of course, naive. We didn’t take into account the vested interests of the Scottish educational establishment and the influential voices of those parents whose children were doing all right under the old system, thank you very much. I experienced this at first hand during my own career. I was hardly in the door when faced with a parental lobby pointing out that children could “take” more courses and exams at the school a few miles away. Pointedly, I was informed that the private schools a short bus ride away offered even more courses. I’m rather ashamed to say I gave in.

The Scottish Government had the opportunity to make its expectations clear. Instead it sold the pass and left the decision up to those beacons of imagination and creativity – local councils. The failure to take responsibility at national level has led to the current unsatisfactory situation with different councils and schools going with five, six or seven courses in fourth year. Again, quantity is confused with quality of learning. Ironically, the schools that attempted to create more time for learning are the losers in the current race into the past.

The current debate on numbers of courses and exams diverts attention from the things that really matter. It moves us not one inch forward in addressing the major failings of the system such as inequality of opportunity, the attainment gap and the difficulty in creating a climate for genuine change and improvement.

While countries of similar size such as Finland, have acted boldly to address similar issues, we seem to be content to tinker at the margins and resuscitate failed strategies. For goodness sake, there must be someone at national level who can see beyond the expansion of testing and the naming, shaming and league tables that will inevitably follow.

The fact we are expending energy on marginal issues such as course and exam numbers and excessive bureaucracy is proof that CfE, if not quite dead, is very seriously ill. The establishment has successfully neutralised the threat that it perceived from CfE. It has won. Our young people and ultimately our country have lost.