 Felly, rymd i chi'n dwillio i swyddfaen wedi cyfionu gwahanol i gyd arnaeth lle Respwyr ac across the Holyrood campus? The next item of business is portfolio questions, and portfolio questions today is education and skills. I remind members that questions 4 and 5 are grouped together and therefore that I will take any supplementaries on those questions after both have been answered. Earlier today, at First Minister's questions, I asked the First Minister about the union connectivity review. I referred to a project between the UK and Scottish Governments where they were working to develop options to cut rail journey times. I said that transport Scotland officials had been told to stop working on that. The First Minister in her answer said that I was completely wrong. I was not wrong because I was at the public meeting where a transport Scotland official said that had happened, as was the transport editor of the Scotsman who duly reported it. Could the First Minister be invited to correct the record so that Parliament has not been unduly misinformed? I am sorry. I thank the member for his point of order. That is not a matter for the chair. As the member will be aware, there is a mechanism to correct the record that members can proceed with. Should they consider that there is a need to do so, Mr Simpson could be pointed in that direction. On portfolio questions on education skills, I was going on to say that if a member wishes to raise a supplementary question, they should press their request-to-speak button or indicate so in the chat function by enriching the letter R during the relevant question. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there should be more programmes in the school curriculum that aims to prevent violence and eating at intimate partner relationships. The Scottish Government is clear harassment and abuse of any form, whether in the workplace schools, in the home or in society, is completely reprehensible and must stop. We are taking forward a range of actions such as teaching our children and young people about safe and healthy relationships through relationships, sexual health and parenthood education and funding programmes such as mentors in violence prevention aimed at reducing and preventing sexual harassment and violence in schools. We are committed to publishing national guidance for schools on addressing gender-based violence. This work is being advanced by the gender-based violence in schools working group, which will also review existing resources and develop new resources that are needed. The work is expected to be completed by 2022. I thank the minister for that answer. Evidence from Canada and the US shows that school-based programmes that seek to prevent violence in dating and intimate partner relationships are affected. I welcome that answer. A recent report by Ofsted England said that of the 32 schools inspected 9 out of 10 girls, the unsolicited explicit pictures or videos were sent to them or their friends. The report stated that it is alarming that many children and young people, particularly girls, feel that they have to accept sexual harassment as part of going up. If she can tell me now or whether she can investigate whether this is happening to any extent in Scottish schools, it would be deeply concerning. If she would keep me informed of the development of the programmes that she referred to earlier. I thank Pauline McNeill for that question. She raises a very important point. We all want children and young people to be able to develop mutually respectful and responsible and confident relationships and that their experiences of relationships are as such. We will continue to fund a range of school-based programmes, which I hear that she welcomed, including Rape Crisis Scotland, which provides a national sexual violence prevention programme in local authority secondary schools across the country. I have reached 48,000 pupils. What we all do realise is that the conduct and behaviour of perpetrators needs to change if we are to end harassment and abuse across society, but also with our young people. We must tackle the underlying attitudes and inequalities that perpetuate that behaviour. I welcome her support in that endeavour. 2. Rachael Hamilton To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support people in educational training in rural areas who have dyslexia. We work with Dyslexia Scotland to provide support across the country to people with dyslexia. In January 2020, we published a final report marking the delivery of the 2014 making sense reviews recommendations to improve outcomes for learners with dyslexia. Learners can access support under the additional support for learning act. Financial assistance is also available in colleges and universities to tailor support to the individual needs of students. Skill development and training opportunities are available to people with dyslexia through Skills Development Scotland's modern apprenticeship programme and their careers information advice and guidance service. 3. Rachael Hamilton I thank the minister for that answer. Adult dyslexia assessment is crucial in supporting people who have not been identified in further education or training, yet the SNP still does not offer free dyslexia assessment to adults. I have repeatedly pushed the Government over the past 18 months to provide this service. Cabinet Secretary, minister, unidentified young people and adults need access to free assessment and support. As without it, there is a potential, it is hindering their life chances. Will she back the campaign to provide free dyslexia assessments for all adults in education and training? Will she also commit to undertaking an assessment into unidentified dyslexia in colleges, universities and the wider workplace? I believe that Rachael Hamilton wrote to my colleague Richard Lochhead in the last month and received a response from him given his portfolio responsibility. I will not add to that here, but what we are assured of is that there is support available to people with dyslexia in all parts of the country, whether they come from a rural community such as one that Rachael Hamilton represents or not. That includes access to dyslexia in Scotland's services support at every stage of their education through apprenticeships and their career support services from Skills Development Scotland. I am very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer. Over the last decade, we have seen an erosion in the number of ASN teachers declining by 578 between 2010 and 2020, the date of the report. In East Lothian, that has led to a reduction from 56 to 35, Dumfries and Galloway, 136 down to 100, The Highlands, 191 to 161 and Morrie, 103 down to 83. That is despite a 90 per cent increase over the same period in the number of pupils who have been identified with ASN. Minister, should we be proud of that record here in Scotland? I thank Mr Butfield for his question. It is important to understand that, under the additional support for learning act 2004, local authorities are responsible for identifying and meeting the additional support needs of their pupils and that local authorities and schools should prioritise personalised support to meet the individual, physical and emotional needs of all children and young people, especially in light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. 3. Ffllw Hyslop To ask the Scottish Government what teaching and resources schools are providing to encourage pupils to engage in climate issues and ensure that their experiences and ideas are acted on, including through the climate assembly. Education Scotland's national improvement hub provides a range of resources that schools can use to support and facilitate pupil engagement with climate education. Initiatives such as equal schools and climate ready classrooms also support schools with this work. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland have reflected on the recommendations and commentary from the climate assembly report, and continue to engage with young climate activists through the Teach the Future campaign and others as a key part of ensuring that our curriculum and resources reflect the latest science and are as engaging as they can be for children and young people. Ffllw Hyslop The cabinet secretary may be aware of the Scottish Youth Film Foundation's work at COP26, where it created films on climate change, interviewed guests and documented, edited and presented programmes through the COP TV initiative. The cabinet secretary would also be aware that Education Scotland agreed to show COP TV in schools following my request earlier last month. Building on the recently announced funding that will go towards the climate change makers programme from the children's parliament, can the cabinet secretary let me know what engagement will take place with young people in schools so that discussions about climate change can continue and that the views of our young people can be heard? Ffllw Hyslop I begin by commending the work that was undertaken by the Scottish Youth Film Foundation at COP26. It was a very, very great initiative to see, to come to fruition. We are absolutely committed not just in this area of policy, but in all areas of policy to ensure that the views of children and young people form the bedrock of our policy development that is something that is very important to me to ensure that that is done properly. The specialist support provided by the children's parliament and the climate change makers programme will mean that the thoughts and the comments of younger children will be available directly to officials and to me and other ministers, particularly at a time when we are refreshing the learning for sustainability action plan as we are at present. That will allow us to build their ideas in right from the beginning of that project. Ffllw Hyslop To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out an equality impact assessment following reports that it plans to cease funding for the schools programme as part of the Scottish attainment challenge. Ffllw Hyslop The Scottish Government has fully considered the impact of all changes to the Refest Scottish attainment challenge and will publish its AQIA ahead of implementation next year. Ffllw Hyslop I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. The impact on the 73 schools is significant. 34 are set to lose around £100,000 in direct funding. For 13 of those, it is around over £150,000. Education committee heard yesterday of what the Scottish attainment challenge funds in schools. Staffing, additional support needs support and a vast range of important interventions such as speech and language therapy. Ffllw Hyslop What would the cabinet secretary advise that headteachers in those schools cut? Ffllw Hyslop We looked carefully as we refreshed the Scottish attainment challenge about how we can ensure that we are providing a fair assessment of needs across the country. I would point out that there is no less funding that will be provided to schools and local authorities, rather that it will be distributed more equitably across the country. For example, 97 per cent of Scottish schools will receive pupil equity funding, which is £420 million over four years. Clearly, where there is work that is being done on through the schools programme, the local authorities are there to assist, as is Education Scotland during any transition process. Michael Marra To ask the Scottish Government what the local authority funding allocations are for the Scottish attainment challenge following the review of the programme. Ffllw Hyslop Funding allocations for all 32 local authorities for the refreshed Scottish attainment challenge were sent to directors of education for each local authority when published on Thursday 25 November. As part of the billion pound refreshed Scottish attainment challenge programme from 2022-23 and on top of the annual PEF investment of up to £130 million and additional support for care experience children and young people too, the total is £172 million over the next four years. Allocations have been confirmed on a multi-year basis for the first time from 2022-23 until 25-26, enabling better longer-term strategic planning across the education system. Michael Marra I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer and for her answer to my colleague Paul Cain. I think that she may wish to examine the figures. As far as I understand it, it is a reduction in funding from last year to this year, and it has been top-sliced. However, the nine previous challenges to authorities assessed of the deepest, most condensed multiple deprivation are facing cuts to attainment funding of 60 per cent by 2026. In my home city of Dundee, there will be a cut from £6.2 million to £1.3 million. Hundreds of jobs and many transformative projects are at risk, undoubtedly impacting on attainment. Can I ask the cabinet secretary if she has abandoned analysis of the role of concentrated multiple deprivation on educational performance? What I can point out is that, in this parliamentary term, there will be £1 billion going into the Scottish attainment challenge. That is significantly more than £750 million that went in in the last parliamentary term. We have taken a decision, and it is not just a decision of Scottish Government, but the decision that is also backed by local authorities, particularly through COSLA leaders, to ensure that we are providing a way to recognise that poverty exists in all parts of Scotland—rural, urban and remote—and that the impact of the pandemic is being felt in all parts of Scotland. It is very important that we recognise that fact and that it is acted upon. The cabinet secretary mentioned that there is still a small but not insignificant number of schools that do not benefit from that funding. Many of them are small rural schools, and even on a measure of low-income families, there may well be hidden poverty and deprivation there. What more will be done to give headteachers in those schools flexibility to support their young people? The implementation of the pupil equity fund has been an important part of the work, and that is based on free school meals. However, what we have done through the agreement with COSLA is ensure that every local authority is now receiving funding, and that is based on the number of children in low-income families. I direct a better way of making decisions rather than the SIMD, which has been used in the past. We have been rightly asked to look at by Audit Scotland. That will ensure that money is going to all 32 local authorities, who will then work with any school that does not perhaps get the PEF funding directly to ensure that they are being supported and that money is there, as I say, right across the country. Before I call the next question, which is question number six from Alasdair Allan, could I draw members' attention to the fact that, for those who may wish to use the headphones, they should plug the headphones into the side of the console and then press menu and then press audio and then press channel 1? I hope that that is clear. I feel that I should be doing some ears to the emergency exit signs here. I digress, so I hope that everybody is online with that. I now call question six, Alasdair Allan. I am going to presume that it is as per the business bulletin and go along with that at the moment and perhaps we can seek some guidance for the supplementary in that case. The Scottish Government is proud to have provided financial support to MG Alpa for the development of the new Speak Gallic initiative. The free multi-platform approach to language learning will allow anyone interested in learning Gallic the ability to access a high-quality course at any time that suits them. I would like to commend all those involved in bringing Speak Gallic to this stage and look forward to the continued development of further phases. There are other Gallic learning resources that have been provided that have proved very popular, such as Duolingo and Learn Gallic, with high numbers signing up to learn. We expect that Speak Gallic will benefit from the increase of interest. I do not know whether others have heard that, but I am beginning as someone who wants to use Gallic in this Parliament, as is my right. I am beginning to weary of an occasion when I will, either at a cross-party group, get simultaneous translation or simultaneous translation that begins with my contribution in this chamber. Dr Allan, if you would resume your seat for a second, I appreciate the point that you raised. My understanding is that the prior arrangement was rightly wrongly that the question on the business bulletin would be read out in English and then the supplementary translated into Gallic. That might be an issue to look at, but that might explain the problem that some members experience. I hope that that answer is helpful. I was referring to the fact that there have been numerous and many occasions in cross-party groups and in this chamber and in many other places where it has been impossible to obtain that. I thank you for your time. My question is to ask, as a supplementary to that, what difference the minister thinks across Scotland and across the world the new speak-gallic facility will have, and we could follow you there in our shop, I guess, if it's the gene of Jaffer Mord that look you also in the Gaelic and the Skirach in Hain, if you're all about, I guess, if you're on tour, and to the minister, beach, tiachad, edrych yn ochr yn y Gwydusyn shop, gyn asianta, I guess, gheithder yn asianta. Thank you, Dr Allan. Cabinet Secretary, I think that you got the just in terms of Dr Allan's first posing of the question as to the subject matter. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I really do hope that the point that Dr Allan raises is something that we can see really, really developing come to fruition. These resources, of course, are freely available on a variety of platforms and that makes them available to learners right across the world. I hope that that will attract people to pick up this language, not just here at home, but also wider than that. We can, of course, point to the pupils in the new Gaelic School in Nova Scotia, for example, that may use this as part of their language learning. I was certainly pleased to say that, in the first two weeks of the project, I understand that the website alone had 11,000 unique visitors, with 77 per cent of those users being from the UK and, of course, others, therefore, much wider afield. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Teaching Gaelic is intrinsic to increasing numbers of Gaelic speakers. Since 2016-17, only 25 new Gaelic teachers were recruited from PGDE secondary courses, falling short of the Scottish Funding Council's target of 31 in that period. Given the need to fill vacancies in Gaelic education, what action is the Scottish Government taking to ensure that 2021-22 target is not only met but exceeded? Donald Cameron, for that very important question, I absolutely agree with him that we need to ensure that we are doing more to encourage people into teaching, particularly into Gaelic medium education. This is something that has been discussed regularly with myself and my officials, and I know that there is work, for example, that General Teaching Council has been assisting on to ensure that we are developing this. I would be happy to provide much more detail than I can in writing to Mr Cameron to ensure that we can see further progress in this. Of course, when he receives that letter, if there is further work that he thinks we should be doing, I would be more than happy to see if there are some practical examples about how we can take that up. For the record, as a matter of clarification, Dr Allan's supplementary was, in fact, translated through the headphones. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that the school curriculum and courses that are delivered by Highland and further education establishments are aligned with the needs of businesses as they transition to a net zero economy. Minister Jamie Hepburn. We recognise the importance of preparing our learners to ensure that they have the skills required to meet our ambitions in transitioning to net zero. In schools, our learning for sustainability action plan sets out how we are working to enable pupils and teachers to build a socially just, sustainable and equitable society. In further and higher education, skills development in Scotland and the Scottish funding council through their joint skills alignment team will ensure that our annual investment skills through work-based learning, upskilling and reskilling is fully aligned behind our aims for a net zero transition. I thank the minister for that answer. As he said, it is crucial to delivering the future skills required to deliver a net zero economy. It will take the upskilling of existing teachers and lecturers. That is quite practically what the Scottish Government is doing to ensure that all our educators have access to this kind of training and upskilling. I recognise the point. Of course, just as we seek to upskill the workforce, we will be practically applying the skillset. He is correct to say that we also need to make sure that those educators have that skillset, too. Set out in our climate emergency skills action plan is, of course, a commitment to taking forward the green jobs workforce academy, which is going to play an important element in the upskilling and retraining of people to meet that challenge. That is just as important for those who will provide those skills. When we talk about the upskilling of people, that also includes our educators. That is going to be a priority area for us as we take this work forward. That concludes portfolio questions. I will allow a very short pause to enable relevant spokespeople to move to their seats safely.