 Good afternoon, the first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions on education and lifelong learning, and in order to get as many people in as possible I would be grateful for short and succinct questions and answers to match points please. Question number one, Angus MacDonald. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making in expanding Garrick media education outwith Garrick speaking areas. Minister Alasdair Allen. The Scottish Government has made good progress with Garrick media education ar y cyfle'r cyffredinol o'r cyflasiio'r unrhyw fwrdd, ar 386 i 2007 nwy ddod 556 i 2014. Rwy'r ffordd i gaelig ysgrifennu ar gyfer y Gaelig, mae'n fawr i gaelig mewn meddwl a oedd ysgrifennu yn ysgrifennu newid, yn ei ddweud o gaelig ysgrifennu i unrhyw, oedd ysgrifennu i Aberfeldy, Bomor, Cumbernauld, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fort William, Glenarchart, Inverness, Irvine, Obanportree, Salon i Thyrsrow, rydych chi'n llwyddeithasol yn gaeligio Glasgow Portree, Kilmarnock ac Inverness. I thank the minister for his reply. I certainly welcome the new figures and the inclusion of Gallic medium provision in the new education bill. However, it has come to my notice that despite some local authorities having produced their own Gallic language plans, some, including my own at Falkirk Council, have only given lip service to their own plan, failing on many of the targets and objectives, despite being happy to take the economic gains such as hosting the Royal National Mod in 2008, which injected £1.5 million to the local economy. What can the Scottish Government and the Board of Gallic do to ensure that local authorities pay more than lip service to Gallic, ensuring that our fragile indigenous language survives? I know that the member has raised many issues around Gallic with me through his role as convener of the cross-party group on Gallic. Local authorities across Scotland, it is clear to say, have on the whole helped to make good progress in delivering support for Gallic, but we acknowledge that there is still an awful lot of work to be done by all public bodies. The national plan for Gallic clearly demonstrates the areas that have the potential to support the language going forward and the names of public bodies that can help deliver those. I thank the minister for his reply. We are aware that the council I represent is the smallest local authority in Scotland and, like all other education departments across the country, is under serious budget pressures at the moment. What assurances can the minister give that the changes being introduced will not result in resources being taken away from the provision of other vital educational provision within Orkney and, indeed, other similar councils? I will certainly not result in resources being taken away from English. I think that the resource devoted nationally to the provision of education and other services in English dwarfs provided to Gallic by a fact that I cannot even work out. I would say that I am conscious in Orkney and Shetland in particular as one of the few areas or two of the few areas in Scotland which never had a Gallic tradition. I am aware of the importance of the Orcarian and Shetlandic Scots tradition, the Northern tradition, the North tradition and through things like the provision of Scots language co-ordinators in schools, one of whom you will know or whom the member will know as an Orcadian, we are very supportive, indeed, of those cultural traditions too. To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the tragic event at Liberton High School in 2014, what additional support and resources have been and will be provided to the school. The Scottish Government has been working closely with the City of Edinburgh Council. We are also committed to providing support of up to £1.6 million towards the cost of replacing the gymnasium where the tragic event took place. I very much welcome that. All associated with the school are grateful for the assistance that has been given. It has been trying times, but great courage has been shown by all. Due to PFI, PPP, liabilities incurred by the previous Labour Council, funds for development at the schools through the council are limited. Therefore, any support, whether for infrastructure or for counselling, is very much welcome. I do not know whether any lessons have been learned regarding counselling, but perhaps the minister can confirm that the support that has been given, both in cash and in kind, will continue. I cannot comment any further on the health and safety authorities' response to the situation, because there is no indication to me as to when that response will be published. I certainly can confirm that the on-going support that there has been in terms of infrastructure and co-operation with the local authority are essential to moving forward from the deeply tragic situation. I ask the cabinet secretary whether there has been any concern over the question of school buildings being included in an HMR inspection report. Those issues have been raised in the past, although it is nonetheless the case that the assessment of the condition of school buildings remains a matter for local authorities. To ask the Scottish Government what will it do to improve literacy in schools following the recent results of the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy. Although the latest survey showed that Scottish pupils perform well, the results are not as good as they should be. They demonstrate that they need to redouble efforts to ensure that every child can succeed in school and so gain the skills that they need for life. As a result, we are stepping up work to improve children's literacy. Education Scotland inspections will focus on raising attainment in literacy. Each school will be expected to demonstrate a very clear strategy for raising attainment in literacy. We will work closely with partners to establish a national improvement framework to provide us with information. We need to show that children's skills in reading, writing, listening and talking are improving. We and our partners will work with parents and carers to develop resources to support learning at home from the early years right through to secondary, building on the Read, Write, Count campaign and finally, round 2 of the Access to Education Fund, with £1.5 million available, to help to reduce barriers to learning experienced by children from disadvantaged backgrounds opened last week and, in 2004, 303 schools benefited from those grants. I thank the minister for her reply. In view of that, does the Scottish Government plan to reform the testing of reading, writing and numeracy in schools? Some of the work that we will be taking forward with all partners in education is in relation to a national performance framework. While the position of this Government is not to reintroduce things such as national testing, which is onerous on teaching staff and children, what we need to address is the need for more intelligent use of information. We need more data about what is happening in the early years and in primary schools so that we can identify issues earlier and act upon the issues that are identified. That is a very important aspect of the work that we will take forward with our partners as we develop the national performance framework. In response to the survey findings, Larry Flanagan, EIS General Secretary, commented that we increasingly see tired and hungry pupils coming to school, as charity-led measures do have an impact on performance, just as deprivation at home impacts on pupil attainment. Does the cabinet secretary agree? Yes, I do. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has done a very detailed and compelling piece of work that looks at the link of poverty and attainment. We know that there are £12 billion of cuts coming down the line from the Conservative Government. We know that austerity penalises the poor and has a disproportional impact on women and crucially on children. One of the reasons why is that we are both focusing on our endeavours within and out with the classroom. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to improve literary standards in primary schools. We launched the Scottish attainment challenge in February this year, supported by £100 million attainment Scotland fund over four years to drive forward improvements in educational outcomes in Scotland's most disadvantaged communities. The attainment fund will initially be targeted at primary schools in local authorities with the biggest concentration of households in deprived areas, and we will have a relentless focus on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. Our raising attainment for all programme, which was launched in June 2014, now covers 23 local authorities and 180 schools, including 155 primary schools. The programme is delivering a targeted approach to improvements in schools. I am grateful to the cabinet secretary for her response, but the 2014 Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy that my colleague Cameron Buchanan has just referred to was quite clear in identifying the key literacy standards among school children have fallen, whereas the Standing Literacy Commission, set up by the Scottish Government, has claimed that those standards have improved. I simply ask the cabinet secretary how she explains that apparent contradiction. Of course, the Standing Literacy Commission is an independent commission and reflects a broad range of measurements across Scottish education. We know that national qualifications, for example, are seeing an increase in pass rates. We know that literacy is embedded in national qualifications. We know that, in terms of PISA results, we have halted the decline in our international standing. However, let me be clear to Mr Ferguson and other members in this chamber that the results from the literacy survey fall short of our aspirations for all of our children. Although the majority of children are doing well—we know that eight out of 10 children read well or very well—those results, quite simply, are not as good as they should be, and we will indeed redouble our efforts to address them. To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent refurbishing schools in Edinburgh in 2014-15. The Scottish Government does not hold that information. It would be for the relevant local authority, in this case the City of Edinburgh Council, to provide the member with that information. However, through the Scotland Schools for the Future programme, the Government is undertaking significant investment in Scotland's school estate. In Edinburgh, the Scottish Government will provide funding of up to £41.9 million for the replacement of James Gillespie's High School, Burrham Ewer High School and St John's Primary School. That is in addition to the £1.6 million around Liberton High School that I mentioned some moments ago. I thank the minister for that answer. The Westerhales Education Centre in my constituency was built in 1978, and during 2014, a phased refurbish programme was started, including our new roof, windows, cladding and electrical upgrade. Does the minister agree that ensuring pupils are taught in modern, well-designed schools is important to ensuring that children get the best possible education? Of course, as the member would expect me to say, the responsibility for those areas lies with the local authority, but the Scottish Government has shown its commitment in a big way over recent years in reducing the number of children in schools that are not in adequate condition. The proportion of schools that were in good or satisfactory condition in 2001 in Scotland was 61 per cent, and in 2014 that figure had risen to 83 per cent. The three schools that I mentioned in Edinburgh are testimony to the Scottish Government's commitment to continuing to improve the school estate. What plans has the Scottish Government made to meet the demands of the growing population in Edinburgh schools? The member would expect me to repeat that the statutory education authority is the education authority. However, the fact that £1.8 billion has been committed through the schools for the future programme throughout Scotland is an indication of the fact that we take seriously the importance of our young people being educated in buildings that are adequate for that task. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to promote the study of computer science in schools and other educational establishments. I thank the member not only for his question but for his recent letter on the subject. We have invested £400,000 over two years from 2013 to 2015 in the planned sea project, which provides free professional development for secondary school computing science teachers. Education Scotland provides advice, guidance and support for computing science teaching and learning in both primary and secondary schools. From 2015 to 2016, reflecting a key priority of developing Scotland's young workforce, college outcome agreements will outline the steps that are being taken by colleges to expand their STEM offer, including courses related to computing science. In this academic year and next, three of Scotland's universities will participate in a pilot operated by the Scottish funding council to recruit additional undergraduate students to ICT courses, including computing science. I thank the minister for that answer. While the Scottish Government has included computing studies as one of the priority subjects for the postgraduate diploma in education, the teaching qualification for all teachers. Is he aware that there is real concern among the academic community, not withstanding the commitments that he has made today, about what they see as a decline in the status and recognition given to computing science, which is reflected in a falling number of teachers in computing science, the closure of some computing science departments in our schools and the withdrawal of computing courses at Scottish universities that provide appropriate computing qualifications? In providing the policy direction and leadership, which I know he and the cabinet secretary are committed to providing, will he meet with me and other interested parties to discuss what further progress can be made? I am, of course, more than happy to meet the member about the issues that he raises. Although it is certainly the case to say that there has been between 2008 and 2014 a decline in the number of young people taking SCQF level 5 in computing science, there has, of course, been a rise at higher and at advanced higher. That is an area that the Government takes very seriously in ensuring that targets are set for our teacher training universities, the teacher initial education universities, to ensure that the teachers are there for the future, for this vital area of our education system and our economy. There seems to be some confusion in local authorities on the difference between computer science teachers who cover programming and advanced skills and computer literacy teachers who cover word processing and administration skills. Is the minister willing to issue guidance to clarify the situation so that we can get an accurate picture of the spread of computer science teachers in Scotland and start to address the fallen numbers that have left some areas with schools with no computer science teacher? Education Scotland's technology review recognises a number of the points that the member has made, not least the important distinction that he makes between computer literacy and computer science. It is important to stress again the fact that we did see efforts in the past year to increase the number of people becoming computer science teachers. We did see an increase, although I am modest when I concede in the number of students on the computer science PGDE course, up from 17 to 22, with a target intake for this year up to 37. I take seriously the points that are made about ensuring that the supply of teachers is there for the future. To ask the Scottish Government what public agencies are doing to promote outdoor education for both urban and rural pupils and with what success. Outdoor learning is promoted in a number of policies, for example in the GTCS standards for registration, while Education Scotland supports practitioners in every sector to build confidence and competence in outdoor learning. A range of public agencies including Sport Scotland and local authorities provide and promote outdoor education for children all over Scotland. Since 2012-13, we have invested £1.9 million in inspiring Scotland to deliver the go-to-play programme to further engage children in active and outdoor play. On Thursday 2 April, inspiring Scotland launched our £300,000 playranger fund. That will allow the playranger model to roll out nationally to upskill outdoor play activity and knowledge across Scotland. I have had the pleasure of opening the refurbished visitor centre at Benay National Nature Reserve last Saturday, and other places such as the RSPB visitor centre at Forsenard in my constituency are a considerable distance from large numbers of pupils. It is in terms of being able to encourage those pupils to experience the outdoors that I am asking this question because many others further away from those places should be able to enjoy those tremendous facilities and learn about our nature and environment. It is lovely to hear from Rob Gibson about the wonderful work that is being done by organisations within his constituency. He might be interested to learn on the findings of Stirling University's most recent research on outdoor education. From 2006 to 2014, there has been a 50 per cent increase in outdoor provision for primary school pupils in Scotland. Amongst the reports on the advantage of that is that teachers are seeing increased pupil engagement when they are part of outdoor education. The Scottish Government's assessment is made of the reasons for following literacy and numeracy in schools. While the most recent Scottish survey of literacy and numeracy found that most children are doing well, as the Scottish Government has already acknowledged, the results are not as good as they should be. Accordingly, we are redoubling our efforts to address that and, in particular, to close the attainment gap. Part of this work will focus on gaining a better understanding of what influences attainment in literacy and numeracy and the role played by disadvantage. I did hear the cabinet secretary describe her response to the statistics to colleagues who asked about the survey earlier. However, my question was indeed about reasons and responsibility. We all visit schools and find them full of dedicated, passionate teachers and bright young people eager to learn, so that cannot be their fault. Literacy and numeracy standards are in decline, whereas we see them in other developed countries improving. The cabinet secretary's Government has been running education for eight years. Surely, she must have some view as to what has gone wrong. The literacy survey results indicate another number of issues. In this chamber, we have discussed and debated at length the role of disadvantage. We have all debated and discussed in various forums the challenges around closing the attainment gap, which is indeed the number one educational priority of the Government. That is why, since the survey was undertaken this time last year, the Government has undertaken a very ambitious programme of reform, not least around the Scottish Attainment Challenge and the £100 million Scottish Attainment Fund, which is very targeted and very focused on addressing disadvantage. There are other issues to do with transition that we need to do better in supporting children in that transition between primary and secondary. We need to do far more to address some of the issues with the boys in primary schools. Mr Gray said that, under Labour, there was a decline in reading literacy according to the OECD PISA results, and that, under Labour, it failed to reduce the attainment gap. That, of course, is in the past, and some would argue that Mr Gray and his party are in the past. What I am interested in now is in the present and in the future. We, since last year, have unveiled a very ambitious programme of work. In response to those literacy results, we have outlined a number of ambitious measures such as the national performance framework, because we will not rest until all our children get the very best start in their life. Literacy and numery skills are at the absolute core of a child's education. Audit Scotland confirmed that there is no consistent approach to testing or assessment from P1 to S3. Neither is there any evaluation on the relationship between spending and raising attainment. How will the Government's ambitions and the national performance framework address those two issues? If Mrs Scanlon listened to my earlier response to one of her colleagues, one of the issues that I said was a very important factor in the national performance framework was having better, more comprehensive information at an earlier stage in a child's education career. However, we have to use information intelligently. I do not want to overburden children or teachers, but we need better information about what is happening in our education system earlier on. Indeed, one of the reasons that the Government introduced the literacy and numery skills service was to get a more comprehensive picture of what is happening so that we know what is happening and we can therefore act upon it. However, I have to say to Mrs Scanlon that, unlike the Tories, this Government will not be driven by ideology. We will do what works and we will be led and informed by the evidence. First and foremost, we will look at the evidence about what supports children and therefore move forward. What we will not be doing, Mrs Scanlon, is free schools, where we see schools that are company limited by guarantee, free schools that are exempt from the national curriculum in England and free schools where teachers are not required to be qualified or registered. How will that improve standards? What we are focused on is absolutely improving standards. In Scottish education, it is good that we have much to be proud for, but what we will not do, Mrs Scanlon, we will not do from where we have shortcomings in our education system. We will look fairly and squarely at the strengths and weaknesses where things have to improve. That is what we are doing. We will lead a very honest debate about what is next for Scottish education. To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to disabled college students. In its guidance to colleges, the Scottish funding council has made clear that improving access for disabled people is a national priority. To support that, the funding council is investing a record £100 million across the sector to ensure that colleges are resourced to meet the needs of disabled students. Additionally, eligible learners studying higher education at college are entitled to financial assistance through the disabled students allowance, and those in further education courses are eligible for support through the additional support needs for learning allowance. The funding council continues to work closely with the equality challenge unit, Enable Scotland, colleges development network and other partners to improve outcomes and support for this group of learners. During 2013-14, 6,270 applications were received for disabled student allowance, an increase of 8.6 per cent on the previous year. Can the minister tell me how many of those applications were rejected and what is the proposed expected uptake of the allowance in the years going forward? Mrs Millan asked questions in relation to higher education and the disabled students allowance, which is awarded by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. It is important to say that this is a non-income assessed allowance. I will write to the net mill with regard to the specific factual points that she raises. We did have a review of the DSA in Scotland. There was a survey that was carried out by NUS in July 2013, indicating that on the whole, disabled student allowances are working well, but I will reply to Mrs Millan directly on the factual information that she seeks. To ask the Scottish Government what recent improvements it has made to student support. This academic year, the college student support budget is at a record level of £105 million, meaning that students can now receive bursaries of up to £93.3 per week at the best level anywhere in the UK. In higher education, those students, most in need, are now entitled to a minimum income of £7,500,000 through a combination of loans and bursaries. As Mr McMahon will be aware, unlike the UK Government, we committed to maintaining the education maintenance allowance scheme, investing nearly £30 million in the current financial year, and in line with the First Minister's commitment to help more young people access and stay on in education, we are considering how we will extend the scheme. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response, but he is aware of the recent information that was published in the Financial Times, which indicates that funding for student grants in Scotland has fallen at a support for loans as risen. It is Scotland now's lowest rate of grant in Western Europe, and since 2007, spending on income-related student grant in Scotland has almost halved in real terms. It is Scotland's only part of the UK that is borrowing its highest among students from poorer backgrounds. Does she agree that this research shows that the net effects of Scottish Government policies is a resource transfer from low-income to high-income households? Does the cabinet secretary believe that those findings are research that reflects a progressive agenda? Mr McMahon and Labour would have far more credibility on this issue if the leader of the Labour Party had not spent all his career opposing free higher education and being a proponent of tuition fees. For the record, it is important to recognise that there has been no reduction in bursaries. Indeed, for the record, when you compare average student loan debt in Scotland to the rest of the UK, the average for Scotland is £7,500 compared to £20,000 in England in particular. In terms of our offer to students, we, as I mentioned in my answer, made a commitment to a minimum income guarantee. Our manifesto spoke of £7,000. We have delivered a minimum income guarantee of £7,500, and it is important to recognise that there has been a 23 per cent increase in the value of the average student support package for 2013-14. If questions and answers could be shorter, we might make a bit more progress. To ask the Scottish Government how local authorities are using the funding that was provided to maintain teacher numbers. The Government is committed to raising attainment and closing the attainment gap. We have been clear that we do not believe that reducing teacher numbers or increasing the pupil-teacher ratio will achieve that. That is why we have offered all 32 local authorities £51 million to support teacher numbers that they have all accepted. That includes an extra £10 million over and above last year's settlement and commits local authorities to maintaining their teacher numbers and pupil-teacher ratio at 2014 levels for 2015-16. With those broad parameters, however, it is for local authorities to determine how best to distribute the funding to ensure that they are able to meet their commitment to maintain teacher numbers. I was looking for as well as to have a reaction from the cabinet secretary that the funding that is allocated for teacher numbers is going to be used for this. What thing could be useful? It could be to recruit teachers from far and wide. I know that some local authorities have done that. Would they be allowed to use that money for this and not use it for something else than education? As the member is aware, local authorities are responsible for teacher recruitment and employment, but it is encouraging to note that a number of local authorities are, as Mr Rallard suggests, proactively exploring potential labour markets both within and out with Scotland. The General Teaching Council for Scotland, which is the independent regularly body for the teaching profession, is responsible for ensuring that only teachers who meet their relevant high standards can register to teach in Scotland, but the GTCS is currently reviewing its registration and probationary service requirements to build a greater degree of flexibility into them, but at the same time ensure that high standards are maintained. To ask the Scottish Government how it will improve the governance of higher education institutions. Higher education makes an important contribution to our economy and Scottish public life, in which we are investing over £1 billion this year and next. The programme for government highlighted the importance of good governance in our universities and included a commitment to an introduction of a higher education governance bill. Consultation on the bill ended on 30 January this year. Informed by the findings, legislation is being developed to modernise and strengthen governance, further embedding the principles of democracy and accountability in our higher education system. The Scottish Government intends to introduce the higher education governance bill to Parliament before the end of the current session. A Cabinet Secretary will be aware of the university and college unions proposals for elected chairs of governing bodies, for those bodies to include trade union and student representation and for a definition of academic freedom to be agreed. I accept the process that we are going through, which she highlighted. It means that she is constrained in giving undertakings as such, but I wonder whether she would agree that those proposals are worthy of serious consideration. I do agree that those proposals are worthy of consideration. The member is correct to highlight that there is a particular process that the Government needs to go through with the Presiding Officer. Therefore, there is not much further that I can add in terms of the detail of the bill until it is introduced to Parliament. What I can say is that the views of all stakeholders shared through the consultation on the higher education governance bill were examined very carefully, and those views and ideas will indeed influence the final form of provisions for the bill. Question 13 by Mary Fee has not been lodged and an explanation has been provided. To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council regarding children with an autistic spectrum disorder being sent to mainstream schools. The Scottish Government has not had any recent discussions with Glasgow City Council regarding children with an autistic spectrum disorder attending mainstream schools. The Standards and Schools Act 2000 places a duty on education authorities to provide education in a mainstream school unless specific exceptions apply. If mainstream schooling would not be suitable for the child in question, placing the child would be likely to be disruptive to the education of the other pupils, or placing the child in question would incur unreasonable levels of public expenditure. I very much thank the minister for that response. It is certainly the feeling and I wonder if he shares the concern of some of my constituents that those specific exceptions are being met. The school is not suitable for some of the pupils, it would be disruptive to the other pupils and yet Glasgow insists on sending them to a mainstream school. I cannot comment on the individual circumstances or school that the member refers to. What I can say is that, as I mentioned, the act is very specific about the circumstances that are concerned. The act places a duty on education authorities to provide education in a mainstream setting, but only if that is in the best interests of the child. The three circumstances that I have set out are the circumstances that any education authority would have to have cognisance of. Neil Findlay. The same thing is happening in my area in West Lothian. The reality is that this is a direct consequence of the underfunding of local government. The act is very serious. Children are not being placed for financial reasons, I believe, across Scotland. The Government really has to look at this because parents will not put up with it. The member may be in a better position than I am to know about the internal workings of the local authority concerned, but all I can say is that the act is extremely specific that the best interests of the child are what are concerned. As far as the local authority funding is concerned, as the member well knows, despite the pressures that are placed on the Scottish Government from another place, this Government in Scotland continues to maintain its commitment to funding local authorities, despite all the pressures that are placed on them. To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Life-Long Learning last met Education Scotland on what was discussed. I have met Bill Maxwell, chief executive of Education Scotland on Thursday, the 23 April, at quarter past one. We discussed a range of topics, which included progress in the implementation of curriculum for excellence, the development of the young workforce programme and Education Scotland's current consultation on the future development of inspection. Mark Griffin. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I can ask if she is aware of the concerns and the teaching profession over at Education Scotland's withdrawal of the national contract to supply glow materials, twig and tigtag in Scottish schools, which are a much-needed science resource. How does the minister plan on addressing the concerns of over 700 teachers who signed an online petition and the impact that will have on science teaching in our schools? I agree with the member that resources for science teachers are very important, and we are certainly reviewing the position. Dr Allan has been in discussions with representatives from Education Scotland to ensure that science teachers do indeed have the right resources available, and we are looking at some other arrangements to ensure that some of the resources mentioned by Mr Griffin are indeed continue to be available. Many thanks. That concludes questions. I will allow a few moments for members to change seats before we move to next business.