 The next item of business is a debate on motion 6102 in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville on excellence in Scottish education. I invite members who wish to participate to press the request to speak buttons now as soon as possible. Place an hour on the chat function if they are joining us remotely. I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville to speak to and move the motion, Cabinet Secretary, for around 12 minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I move the motion in my name. I want to start by paying tribute to all the young people who have achieved qualifications and awards this summer, and all of those who have moved on to employment, started new apprenticeships or courses in our colleges and universities. They are a credit to themselves and those who have supported them. In particular I want to recognise the dedication, commitment and hard work of our early years workers, our teachers, our college and university lecturers and all those who work alongside them. There is much to celebrate in Scottish education and it is right that we can recognise that and acknowledge some of that today. Our education system has an excellent reputation internationally. Beatrice Pont from the OECD said last September to the Parliament's Education and Skills Committee that Scotland is used internationally as an example of high performance. We have a higher proportion of adults with tertiary level education than any other EU country. Scotland is ranked fourth in the 2018 PISA study of global competence. Since August 2021 all local authorities have been offering 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare to all the eligible children. Scotland is the only part of the UK to offer the equivalent of 30 hours of funded childcare per week in term time to all eligible children regardless of their parents' working status. Over the last 10 years we have seen the poverty-related attainment gap close in a range of indicators, for example among school leavers achieving a pass at higher or equivalent. The resilience and hard work of our teachers and young people is extraordinary. This year saw one of the strongest ever set of qualification results in an exam year. There is also a big increase in 2022 in those achieving skills-based qualifications. We have more school leavers being in education, employment or training. We have a record high of full-time first-degree entrance to university coming from the most deprived areas. Indeed, the commissioner for fair access said in his last annual report that the Scottish Government's approach has been an ambiguous success. Of course, our on-going commitment to free university tuition ensures that eligible Scottish students studying in Scotland do not incur up to £27,750 worth of additional student loan debt and results in the lowest student debt levels in the UK. We are spending wisely on people and on infrastructure where that matters most. We spend more per pupil, we have more teachers per pupil than any other UK nation. Our teacher numbers are now at the highest they have been since 2008, with the number of primary teachers at the highest since 1980 in our school buildings and the best condition that they have ever been. Stephen Kerr. Lots of self-congratulation, but that would be easily predicted for the speech that we are listening to. How many Scottish pupils that applied to go to Scottish universities were not able to gain admission because of the cap that there is on the number of places for Scottish students? Cabinet Secretary. The question that is hidden in that question is, of course, the Tory policy to ensure that Scottish students would pay tuition fees just like they are down south. If we are having that type of debate, then it is unfortunate that the Conservatives are not more honest in their debate. You could resume your point of order. What recourse is there for us on this side when someone blatantly misrepresents the position of our party on relation to this issue, as the Cabinet Secretary has just done? Is this going to be the tone of this debate, then? It is a very poor start. Thank you, Mr Kerr. The content of member speeches is not a matter for the chair. If there is factual inaccuracy, there are mechanisms for correcting the record, but I would invite the Cabinet Secretary to continue her speech and I can give you back that time. Indeed, if the Tories do not want people to pay for university tuition, then they must say where the money is coming from because that is the context in which Mr Kerr is operating in. Does this represent a system that is failing, as many in this chamber and some commentators claim? Of course it does not, but we do know that there is more to do. Our aim remains to achieve excellence and equity in the outcomes that children achieve. We have now seen a full year of the delivery of the expansion of funded early learning and childcare, bringing benefits to thousands of children and families right across Scotland. Increasing access to high quality funded early learning and school-age childcare is a priority and fundamental to our national mission to tackle child poverty, support families and narrow the poverty-related attainment gap. Our strategic childcare plan will set out our vision for early learning and school-age childcare and, in 2022-23, we will invest £20 million in design and test options for all-year round school-age childcare systems. We will also build the evidence base. We need to develop a high-quality learning and childcare offer for one-and-two-year-olds starting with those who will benefit most. Continued improvement is at the heart of our plans for learning post-pandemic. This aim is shared with all those who help deliver education in Scotland. We are committed to raising attainment for all our young people and accelerating progress in learning. As we have moved beyond the pandemic, we are rightly also placing an increased focus on health and wellbeing and children's rights. The ambitious new approach for the Scottish attainment challenge that I announced last year, which includes a record investment of £1 billion, includes a strong focus on health and wellbeing. We have given councils and headteachers significant funding and trust them to get it right because they know where it is needed most. Michael Marra. I have rehearsed this with the cabinet secretary on numerous occasions, but I think it is a little bit out of order to describe it as ambitious when she is cutting the resource to the poorest communities in Scotland like my constituency in Dundee, which is resulting in massive cuts in the kind of provision that is needed by the poorest pupils in Scotland. Cabinet secretary. Of course, the funding arrangement that we have was welcomed by COSLA. It is important to recognise that the impacts of poverty and indeed the pandemic go right across Scotland. It was demonstrated that the way that the fund was produced before actually ensured that around 59 per cent of children low-income families were not able to access the funding through their schools. I think that it was right and COSLA agreed that more should be done in that area. I visited Castlebury community campus with the International Council of Education Advisers in June. We were delighted to hear first-hand how the schools and pupils have benefited from pupil equity funding as well as a new building that they are rightly proud of. Of course, our 2016-17 programme for government said that it was a defining mission of this Government to close the poverty-related attainment gap and that we intend to make progress within the lifetime of this Parliament and substantially eliminate the gap over the course of the next decade. We remain committed to that and we are seeing progress. Covid has had a negative impact on the attainment gap, not just in Scotland but all over the world, and a cost of living crisis certainly is not helping, so we need relentless focus to address the gap to reduce it and ultimately to close it. Crucial to this will be a consistent approach to limiting variation in performance right across Scotland. Our framework for recovery and accelerating progress requires local authorities to set their own stretch aims for progress against an agreed set of measures. That will enable authorities to use local data and knowledge in their context to set their own ambitious but realistic aims for progress. The Government will publish those stretch aims later in the year. Willie Rennie. I think the minister is exaggerating. The apparent progress that she alludes to is in comparison with 2019, but at the very best it is stagnant and compared with Covid-19, it is a massive drop. At this rate of progress, it will take another three decades to close this attainment gap. Why has she been so timid? I think that Mr Rennie does a disservice to the work that has gone on, particularly since the Scottish attainment challenge has been increased in this parliamentary term, but also looking back to the start of the attainment challenge. For primary between 2016-17 and up to 2018-19, the attainment gap had narrowed for numeracy and literacy. We have also seen improvements in attainment also within some higher education results, but I absolutely recognise that there is more to do. That is exactly why we have the stretch aims that have been introduced. If you forgive me, I am going to make some progress, because I have already given way to the member already. We will continue to provide support for our children and young people when we maintain funding on additional support for learning to enhance capacity to respond effectively to individual needs. We will ensure that all school-aged children have access to appropriate device and connectivity to support their learning by the end of the parliamentary session. We are committed to helping families with the cost of the school day, and we are committed to working with our local authority partners to plan for the expansion of free school meal provision to primary 6 and 7 later in this parliamentary term. We also recognise that education does not stop at the school gate. Learning is lifelong, and we recognise the value in all learner journeys through our schools, colleges, universities, professional skills providers and apprenticeships. We have already started our work on our new purpose and principles for post-school education, skills and research, and we will consult with partners, learners and employers to ensure that we are hearing the voices that need to be heard to make sure that we get our purpose and principles correct. I am going to make some more progress, I apologise. Lastly, I will touch on our ambitious programme of educational reform to ensure that our system remains world-leading. Our national discussion, which was launched last week on the future of Scottish education co-chaired with COSLA and facilitated by Professor Carol Campbell and Alma Harris, will focus on how we get even better and build an education system fit for the future. It is an unprecedented opportunity for children and young people, parents and carers, teachers and other practitioners to shape the future of this Scottish education system. When I was at the launch at Carnegie primary school in Dunfermline, I saw from learners how the resources can be used to support the discussion facilitated by teachers, and I was deeply impressed by how knowledgeable and enthusiastic the children were. I would like to thank the professors, Councillor Buchanan, Willie Rennie, Ross Greer, Pam Goswell and Michael Manner for taking the time to attend the first facilitated conversation on the national discussion that we had in the Scottish Parliament last week. We will always have our political differences, I think that we have seen that already, Presiding Officer, this afternoon, but the Muir report did ask us all to have a national discussion and stress the importance of reaching a consensual vision for education. I hope that we may see some of that this afternoon. The national discussion will, of course, set the context for our reform. It has been 20 years since we have had our last national discussion on education. It is crucial that we listen to children and young people as we go through this process. That national discussion will, of course, lead into the work that Professor Hayward is taking out in the independent review of qualifications and assessments. We also have the education reform bill, which will establish a newly independent inspectorate, a new qualifications body, and we are, of course, also developing the new national agency for Scottish education. Presiding Officer, our vision of excellence and equity is a shared endeavour with partners including councils, early years practitioners, parents and carers, teachers, lecturers and care services playing a pivotal role in improving outcomes for children and young people. It is important that we recognise their hard work and listen to what they have to say. We remain confident that our record levels of investment, our collaborative approach with key partners in the system and our continuous focus on improvement underpinned by curriculum for excellence will help to ensure that Scottish education remains a world-class system that places the needs and voices of children and young people right at the heart of education just as it should be. Cabinet Secretary, before proceeding to the next speaker, can I gently nudge those colleagues who wish to participate who haven't already done so to press your request to speak buttons as soon as possible. I can advise the chamber there's a little time in hand, so I would encourage members to make and take interventions for which you will get the time back. I would therefore discourage members from providing a running commentary on speeches from a sedentary position. But with that, I invite Stephen Kerr to speak to and move amendment 6102.3. Mr Kerr, up to eight minutes. I move the amendment in my name. Today, with grim inevitability, we will hear more of what we heard from the Cabinet Secretary. A variety of Pollyanna-esque speeches from SNP members outlining how great the SNP are doing. We will hear statistical acrobatics to prove that the figures are wrong and we will be presented with Donald Trump-style alternative facts. We will be told inevitably how much worse things are in England as an excuse for their failures. The SNP keeps repeating their double-think as if saying it often enough changes the reality of what teachers, pupils and parents experience daily. Nicola Sturgeon said that she wanted her time in office to be judged on her education record. She said that it was her sacred responsibility. No wonder that she is not here today in this chamber on this record that she wants to be judged on because she knows how bad her record is. There are 815 fewer teachers since the SNP came to power in 2007. There is a scandalous number of teachers on temporary contracts. Attainment is falling and the attainment gap despite what we have heard is widening. 1 in 3 primary pupils are not meeting the expected levels of literacy. 1 in 4 primary pupils are not meeting the expected levels of numeracy. Fewer pupils are taking maths and science at higher. More than 40 per cent of Scotland's schools have not been inspected for at least 10 years. We should be angry at this litany of failure on children and young people. Scotland's education was the envy of the world. My Scottish education has been one of the greatest blessings in my life and I am forever indebted to my teachers and my parents for being so encouraging and supportive. No one. Brian Whittle. Very grateful for my colleague. I was listening to the cabinet secretary and I wonder if my colleague would agree with me that what she is describing does not reflect the incredible stresses and strains that our teachers are increasingly under and inevitably they are going to reach burnout unless we do something to support our teachers and our schools. Stephen Cair. To my friend for his intervention, I completely agree with him. The creating an alternative reality. I wonder how he would respond to a quote by Andrea Bradley when she recently took over as the general secretary of the EIS. Yes, there is a lot more to be done and there is a lot more we want to achieve but it is demoralising for young people to hear their work completely dismissed by politicians and the press is not being worth terribly much. It is very difficult for the parents to hear and for the wider school community to hear. It is important to stimulate progress in the direction that we want to see. You do not achieve success by setting up competitions between different schools and different local authorities. I hope that Mr Cair will get on to the point where he congratulates Scottish education for what is right as well as what more we can perhaps do. This is a typical SNP line of argument that whenever you put the Government under examination whenever you scrutinise the Government, ministers like the cabinet secretary find the good people that are doing their level best to educate our young people. It is a low tactic which I would have hoped more of the cabinet secretary than to hear that kind of line of argument. If I might return, Deputy Presiding Officer, to what I was saying about my own family and my own personal indebtedness to Scotland's education system no-one in our family had ever been to university and had wanted that for my sister and me. Let's look what has happened under this hopeless SNP Government. Scotland's global reputation on so many levels has suffered under the SNP but none more so than the area of our proud reputation for education. It is true to say, and I quote, the importance of education is ingrained in Scottish history. It is a historical heritage but little did we realise when she said them that she meant that Scottish educational standards were to be a matter of history rather than of the presence. A Scottish education must once again be seen as one of life's greatest advantages. It must be a gift that gives to every Scott equality and quality of opportunity. It must inspire and uplift a sport that opens doors and leads to wider horizons. That is the very definition of levelling up. Giving children and young people the opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and fortitude to live a full and happy life. I am willing to give way to the cabinet secretary because she is giving a running commentary on my speech. I am more than happy to give way to her but instead I will give way to Bob Doris who we always hear sensible things from. I thank Mr Kerr for giving way. Does he remember when he was a commuter of the education committee a visit to my constituent St Rock's? We heard from many teachers working with young people from deprived areas on the attainment challenge. They were hugely optimistic about the future of Scottish education. They were very, very positive. I was wondering whether Mr Kerr would reflect any of that in his speech at any point. Stephen Kerr. I am reflecting a critique of the Government that the member supports. That is what Parliament is for, to scrutinise the performance of the Government. I know that the SNP does not like scrutiny but that is what this place exists in part 4. That is what we are going to do whether it is comfortable or not. By the way, I agree with Bob Doris. We have met some fantastic teachers and I will return to teachers if I hope I can make some progress. Am I going to be able to recover any time? I can give you up to 10 minutes, which would give you an additional 2 minutes. In that case, I am going to take one more intervention and then I want to deliver my message. Ross Greer. I am grateful to the member for taking the intervention. I agree with him in principle the importance of parliamentary scrutiny, but Parliament is also an opportunity for opposition parties to lay out alternative proposals, not just a criticism of the Government's record, but what they would do instead. I am wondering when the Conservatives will come to that. Stephen Kerr. The reason I want to make some progress is because I do want to talk about the themes around which the Conservatives wish to make some contribution. This is the beginning, I hope, of that contribution. The SNP thought, let's keep the Government scrutiny going here. The SNP is good at shirking accountability and we are hearing that today. They are taking far too long to make changes in education. They are taking far too long on reform. They are not making it happen. They waste time at the speed of light and they really are experts at provocation. They have made it into an Olympic class event. We are now to have a national discussion and I really hope, Deputy Presiding Officer, that the Cabinet Secretary isn't cynically using a national discussion as a smoke screen for her Government's 15 years of failure. The OECD review was just such... Cabinet Secretary, I've already advised the chamber about running. Mr Kerr, allow me to manage the debate. Thank you very much, Stephen Kerr. I'll just make the point, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am more than happy to take interventions from the Cabinet Secretary. The OECD review was just such a smoke screen. It was called Partial, Psychophantic and Superficial in Damning Criticism by Lindsay Paterson, Professor of Education Policy at Edinburgh University. We shouldn't keep defending the indefensible and commissioning review upon review simply to embed failure. Vested interest in education means that those in charge today are responsible for the state of the system which is failing. It is perfectly normal for them. It's a human reaction to want to defend that system. It is our job to be clear in our view and incisive in our scrutiny that we must be led in our policy deliberations by evidence, not wishful thinking and obfuscation. The changes to Education Scotland and the SQA are turning out to be nothing more than a cosmetic exercise. It is all the same people. They will not deliver the change we need. It is time for some honesty. We are really doing the best we can for our teachers, parents and children and young people. If this is our best, we should be ashamed. We have tireless and dedicated teachers. I am always inspired by what I learn when I meet teachers. I pay heartfelt tribute to Scotland's teachers. I have close members of my family who are teachers and I believe that they are typical of the very best of Scotland's teaching profession. My admiration for them knows no boundary. How much we all owe to our teachers and our laws, our policies must support them. Teachers must feel that we have their backs. The Times reported earlier this year over 10,000 attacks in one year on teachers in classrooms with some schools threatening strike action over the lack of safety. I tried to get ministers to come to the chamber to make a statement on the EIS survey on attacks in the classroom and they would not come, because they said that they had nothing new to say. I can tell that I need to wind up. On conclusion, I want to state very clearly that the Scottish Conservatives want real change leading to sustained improvement in our education system. Scotland should once again be defined by its world-beating education system. No doubt this debate will just be another time filler in the parliamentary order paper if all we get now is craven lick-spittle speeches from Government benches. Let's hear some critical assessment from the SNP members. Not a self. Mr Kerr resumed your point of order for Fiona Heslop. I have been in this Parliament since 1999 and there are certain members of this chamber who abuse the goodwill, the spirit and the respect that our standing orders have in how they conduct their debates. We have also used up valuable time, which should be spent on the subject and content of a very important subject. Can you relate to the Parliament the seriousness with which the Presiding Officers take this chamber and to remind members who should know better that a bit of respect, a bit of content and a bit of respect for the people and the children of this country rather than make speeches that misrepresent, as the previous MSP has said, misrepresent others so severely as we have just heard completely and utterly unacceptable? Thank you, Ms Heslop. As I ruled earlier, that is not a point of order. You have put your point on the record, Mr Kerr. You have completed your speech well over time, so we are going to move to the next speaker, Michael Marra, to speak to and move the amendment 6102.1 for around six minutes. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I'm happy to move the amendment to my name. To join with colleagues in paying tribute to our young people in Scotland who are leaving school, emerging into, frankly, quite a worrying time in their lives for the rest of the country. Scottish Labour is happy to support the national conversation that forms the substance of the motion from the Government today that was recommended by Professor Ken Muir almost seven months ago. I must confess to approaching this latest exercise without a great surfeit of enthusiasm, given the blizzard of reviews and consultations that are so numerous in this Government, you'd be as well as Counting Snowflakes. Let's be clear, they are no substitute for leadership and for action. However, our first meeting, highlighted by the Cabinet Secretary, was full of good intentions. What I want to do is set out a little bit of our expectations as the Labour Party today around that exercise. In any wide-ranging series of forms, it is imperative the voices of the public and all stakeholders are heard. The voices of those who use our education system should be central to guiding reform, but so should be an overarching sense of purpose that can only really come from the democratic process that elects our Government. What kind of country do we want? What kind of country do we want to become? What are the opportunities to be seized? What are the challenges that must be faced? There is rightly much focus today on the atrocious actions of the Doomsday cult dwelling in Downing Street. Not my words, Presiding Officer, a quote from the chief economist at UBL's Global Wealth Management. Natural Tory voters, I suspect, but it is little wonder that Professor Adam Tomkins, late of this parish, is now making it clear that a Labour Government must happen, must happen if this unfolding macroeconomic disaster is to be addressed. The SNP will, understandably in that context, clamour for a referendum and their own version of economic chaos in order to seize the economic levers. Yet what we are discussing today is the single greatest economic lever available to any nation anywhere. An educated population ready to build a better Scotland. So in any national conversation about our education system, the hard facts of our economy in Scotland must be acknowledged in place to centre stage. Scotland's economic stagnation are woeful productivity. Our sclerotic business innovation, business enterprise research and development figures that have remained stubbornly poor for well in excess of a decade. But our education system is, of course, so much more. Confidence, opportunity, friendship, community, music stories, the reasons to live rather than just the means. And the chance, as Ciar Stammer, I thought very eloquently put it this week, to live rather than just to exist. That is what our people hunger for. Certainly, sir. Brian Whittle. I'm very grateful for the member for taking an intervention. I listened to his speech with interest and I agree with him that education is the greatest lever that we have in our country in our route to prosperity. Would you agree with me that the very first thing we have to do is to ensure that the support mechanism is there to support our teachers in their efforts to deliver for our children and as it currently stands at the moment as he is concerned as I am that our teachers are reaching burnout? Michael Marra. I think that Mr Whittle makes a very good point both to myself and to Mr Kerr in his previous intervention. The strains placed on our teaching workforce over the last of recent years are extraordinary and the schools that I visit on a regular basis in my role are a verge of burnout and we know that that is part frankly of the negotiations that EIS is a large in teaching union involved in at the moment to make sure that they can have some form of recompense for that and I hope that the First Minister gets round that table and sorts that situation out as soon as possible and I'll make some progress if that's okay Mr Kerr. So a real national conversation must encompass all of this. If it does not it will not be credible and the Cabinet Secretary must ensure that we reduce that report and the submission of all organisations are published in full. So this conversation must be broad based and it must be challenging for the country and for the Government. It must address the need for resources as well rather than just dwelling on the enduring years of cuts on cuts that come from this Government and I do worry around this general reform programme and I've expressed this to the Cabinet Secretary before that frankly the whole thing is the announcement of the closure of the national education organisations in the face of their abject failure in the years of the pandemic. Then there's the establishment of a commission on assessment, that's then followed by the establishment of a national conversation which surely in any logical sense the result and precepts of which would inform the assessment commission and so to stretch then this guddle out over a period of long years little wonder that we discover the system is fighting back. The Education Scotland in the SQA refused to believe that they've been scrapped at all, Presiding Officer. That they turn up education committee much like Monty Python's Black Knight. The Mule report does but a scratch. The Education Secretary telling us in a statement that they're abolished a mere flesh wound for these organisations. The reforms boards are packed with their leadership. They're hardly, bear with me in one moment Mr Kerr, they are hardly busting a gut to get those reports written and they're not burning the midnight oil lest it's set fire to the long grass. Stephen Kerr. Does he agree that it's shameful that 59 board member appointments only three of them are teachers? Michael Marra. I think it's a fair point well made. The composition of the boards is a problem and I would hope that the cabinet secretary might reflect on that and that the minister could address this in the closing remarks. I do think that Parliament would have more confidence if those boards were to be restructured. And there are real consequences which we're told these organisations did not serve our children and our future. Why then do many tens of thousands of children have their life chances impacted by their self-serving continuation over a period of years? The cabinet secretary I believe is well aware of the frustration out there that the recommendations of the Mule report are rusting like a ferry in Ferguson's yard. She must and she can accelerate the process and I would ask her to just get this job done. The immediate term is all the more difficult in closing for pupils and teachers. They need their resources. The First Minister should be at the table dealing with the EIS situation. If she had addressed the bin strikes earlier we would have got out of that situation an awful lot quicker. I thank all of those who work in our schools and encourage everyone to engage wherever they can with how we improve our education system for the sake of the country. Scotland needs those ideas, that passion and that commitment because there is a sorrowful lack of it coming from this Government. Thank you Mr Marrake. Can you move your motion to your amendment? I did, but I'll move the motion against her. Better safe than sorry. We now move to Willie Rennie for around six minutes Mr Rennie. I have to say that the Government has got a nerve. Excellence in Scottish education. That's the title of this debate. We do have excellent teachers. We have excellent staff. We have excellent pupils. But this Government is far from excellent on education. The education secretary should stop insulting teachers, pupils and staff by seeking to use them as a human shield against any criticism of the SNP track record and the SNP failure as well. The defining mission, judge me on my record, closed the poverty-related attainment gap completely. The words of the First Minister are six years ago, and they scarcely pass their lips these days. In that same election, because I stood on the same platform as her at that election, I said we'd put a penny on income tax for education. Such was my commitment to education. I made it my number one priority. The difference is that I'm standing here this afternoon again talking about education. Could it continue to be my number one priority? Whereas the First Minister is nowhere to be seen. Look at the record, I argued, encouraged, pleaded with the Government for years to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap, which was at the centre of our slipping international education performance. Ten years ago, I said targeted funds directly to the poorest pupils was the best way through a pupil premium. But the education secretary, after education secretary refused to do it for years on end. Because of that, young children from poorer backgrounds struggled in school. Because of that refusal back then we see a yawning poverty-related attainment gap today. This year's exams at best saw a stagnating attainment gap and at worst a growing gap. At the current rate of progress it's going to take 35 years to close the poverty-related attainment gap completely. Because that is the promise to close it completely. We have an education secretary who sought to wriggle out of the commitment before the education committee of this very Parliament to close it by 2026. And a Government that allows funding to pay for police to patrol school corridors. Every good teacher deserves a full-time contract not years on end on short-term contracts. The zero-hours nature of so many of our employment contracts is unacceptable. I have a quote here from a teacher who wrote to me this week. She said, due to the stress like so many others she is considering leaving the profession. It's not sustainable especially in the current climate to live off the odd day here and there of supply work on zero-hours contract. I get endless emails like that every single week and it's not acceptable, not just now. In a direct contradiction with the rest of their education policy we have national testing which leads to national lead tables and all the negative behaviours that comes with that. National testing has got to go. It's a contradiction to the curriculum for excellence. We will engage on the promised reforms. I've told the education secretary that we'll work constructively we'll try and ensure that people engage in the process. But I'm far from convinced that we'll get real change as all the signs are that this is going to be managed into mediocrity. We certainly need an awful lot more teachers on the bodies and the review groups because there's far too few at the current rate. We must strengthen the role of knowledge in the curriculum. Resolve the transition between the junior and the senior phase at secondary school. Remove the two-term dash that's being created and give teachers the materials to teach in the class so that they can do the job that they were trained to do. Brian Whittle. I'm very grateful for what we're ready to give away and I hope he would agree with me that when we talk about education in its widest sense and I wonder if he agrees with me the erosion over the past three or four decades of the inclusion of things like sport and music and art and drama have contributed to the decrease and decline in our education system because these things have such a positive influence on pupils' confidence and resilience that will help them to make that transition. Willie Rennie. It's a strong advocate for sport. I know Mr Whittle and I completely agree with him that we need to make sure that we have the broadest possible experience in school so I would be keen to work with Mr Whittle on that important area. I've spent many a session in this chamber seeking to persuade Alex Salmond at the time to make a free offer for two-year-olds for nursery. I eventually won the argument but years later still many are not receiving those free hours for two-year-olds because the Government couldn't get organised. It's about half of those who are entitled to that free nursery education are actually accessing it. That's not acceptable and that's going to change. There's an exodus of staff from private and voluntary nurseries as well because of the built-in discrimination in funding arrangements organised by this Government. Staff in one half of the sector is paid much less to do exactly the same job as staff in the other half of the sector. That's discrimination. It matters because this First Minister promised flexibility for parents. The hours they need when they want them but that won't happen without the flexibility provided by the private and voluntary nurseries. I've not even got on to colleges. We had an evidence session in the committee on that and the information is devastating on the cuts. Universities, the funding in relation to research is devastating as well, not just for those universities and the staff but also for the wider economy. I could go on endlessly and there's much more we need to debate on the area of education. One debate is simply not enough for this but I probably don't have enough hope that we'll be able to get into the detail of all those areas because the Government isn't particularly keen in scrutiny on so many of this aspect. Scottish education was the best in the world but under the SNP Government it slipped down the international rankings that has got to change. Thank you. We now move to the open debate. I call First Co-Cab Stewart to be followed by Sue Webber for around six minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I always welcome the opportunity to debate education in Parliament in a constructive spirit and it is only right that we should reflect on as many positive experiences and examples of success as well as considering the challenges for further improvement. Let's start with a reminder of the four capacities that are embedded in the curriculum for excellence and that's namely confident individuals, effective contributors, successful learners and indeed responsible citizens. Those capacities remain as relevant today as when the curriculum for excellence was first developed. Let's remember the OECD values Scotland's approach highly describing the curriculum as a holistic, coherent, future-orientated approach to learning and indeed some countries are looking to adopt elements of our curriculum for excellence. On the back of this groundbreaking system schools are delivering success in terms of exam results and positive destinations. Pass rates of national fives, hires and advanced hires have increased compared with 2019 with A passes also up. Skills based qualifications are close to the highest ever figure and positive destinations for school leavers stand at 93.2% with many schools achieving the highest ever results against that measurement. I welcome the 2020-21 report on widening access which found that 16.7 of higher education students are from the most deprived areas and with continued focus from our government we are on track to reach the target of 20% by 2030. I will take an intervention. Does the member share my concern about the low take-up on free school meals and the low take-up on the school uniform grants? I think that because of the uplift in the Scottish child payment the actual parameters required to fill in the forms to get school meals has changed so I believe that that is being looked at in that. As someone who is in regular contact with schools I am not surprised to hear that almost nine out of ten head teachers suggest that improvements have been made in closing the poverty related attainment gap in the background of the impact of Covid which remember was a global hit for everybody. As a teacher myself previously I know and I'd like to remind everyone that there is a joy in seeing children develop and thrive socially, emotionally and academically and have fun learning and I'll take this opportunity to place on record my respect and gratitude to all members of the education profession who work with compassion dedication to deliver the best outcomes for the pupils in their care. Teachers have borne a huge responsibility as they supported children and families throughout the pandemic turning on a sixpence to up skill go online, deliver remote learning and in-person learning whilst of course dealing with their own personal circumstances as well. Schools undertake a whole range of social inclusion work to mitigate the effects of the cost of living crisis and the Scottish Government rightly prioritises funding to support teachers and pupils throughout with policies including the Scottish child payment the on-going expansion of free school meals which will be available to all primary school aged children by the end of this Parliament and I urge the Government in future to go further when it's possible the school clothing grant and the increased hours of free childcare as well. With all that work of course teachers deserve decent salaries but it is worth noting that in Scotland they are currently the best paid teaching workforce in the UK. A starting salary for a teacher in Scotland is 33,724 which is considerably higher than the 28,000 starting salary proposed for England and Wales. I did indeed attend the Scottish learning festival in Dunfermline and it was a joy to be amongst pupils again and to speak to them about the real life innovation work that is going on in schools. The theme this year is placing learners at the heart of Scottish education and it was really busy and vibrant. It was the event that was chosen by the Cabinet Secretary to launch the national discussion that has been referred to earlier by my colleagues here. An initiative that was put forward by Ken Muir in his report Putting Learners at the Centre. Now this discussion is specifically designed to encourage and facilitate the inclusion of learners and teachers in education reform. That takes time. It has to be done properly to make sure that it is meaningful. Should there be more teachers on the board? I think that the student is winding up but I will invite her to answer that in winding up. I will take that very quickly. Mr Kerr needs to remember that there are also teacher union representatives on that board and those teacher unions represent thousands and thousands of teachers as well. I am running out of time so to conclude I commend teachers and pupils in Scotland for their hard work, resilience, enthusiasm and the results that they can take pride in through challenging days. I commend the Scottish Government for commissioning the Moor report and I encourage them to be bold in its delivery of the recommendations. Thank you very much. I now call Sue Webber to be followed by Graham Day for around six minutes. I noted in the Scottish Government's motion and by the contributions already made in the chamber today, I would like to commend the hard work of staff and teaching professionals in Scotland schools, colleges, universities and early learning and childcare centres. We have also heard from members across the chamber today that the SNP Government has presided over 15 years of failure in Scottish education with the attainment gap widening and education standards dropping. The SNP have starved schools and staff of resources and their curriculum for excellence has been an unmitigated failure. We need to restore excellence in Scottish schools so that every child has the chance to succeed no matter their background. The SNP seems to have dropped their commitment to close the attainment gap by 2026. Shirley-Anne Somerville said to the education committee, I will not set an arbitrary date for when the attainment gap will be closed. If you do not mind, I will carry on. Thank you. The SNP stated in the 2016-17 programme for government that we intend to make significant progress within the lifetime of this Parliament and substantially eliminate the gap over the course of the next decade. It is clear that this has not yet happened. In 2022, the percentage point difference in higher A-grade attainment levels between the most deprived and least deprived pupils is higher in 2022 than in any year since 2017. The attainment gap pass rate for advanced hires is the second worst since 2017. The attainment gap for those with additional support needs has widened at national 5 level. The attainment gap for pupils with additional support needs has widened at higher level. The attainment gap for disabled pupils has doubled since 2020. Furthermore, a Scottish Government audit found that school closures had a disproportionately negative impact on pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Education, Children and Young People Committee noted the conclusion from the Audit of Scotland that the poverty-related attainment gap remains wide with limited progress on closing the gap and that inequalities have been exacerbated by Covid. The report stated that progress on closing the gap has been limited and falls short of the Scottish Government's aims. Improvement needs to happen more quickly, and there needs to be greater consistency across the country. We have already heard that Nicola Sturgeon has said that her sacred responsibility to provide equal opportunities to all children. She has stated that now that I am First Minister I am determined indeed I have a sacred responsibility to make sure every young person in our land gets the same chance that I had to succeed however they want to do in life. I think that we can agree that we have failed to deliver this promise. It was a sign of weakness of our current system that it took the PISA test to identify that there might be a problem with attainment in key areas. We should have our own data about how young Scots are doing against international comparisons. This is not the case at present and we must make sure it is in the future. It is after all imperative that our young people should be confident that wherever they go in the world that their academic achievements will actually be recognised. Now I want to touch on the very much needed on-going reform agenda because when it comes to the detail surrounding who is responsible for each element of the current education reform the picture is very unclear. Are the SNP merely rebranding the SQA rather than creating a genuinely reformed qualifications body? The new qualifications body tasked with reforming the education agency is dominated by former SQA managers whilst those with the most valuable contributions to make teachers, pupils and parents appear to be pushed to the side. Shockingly, as we have heard already by Stephen Kerr, it has been revealed that only three teachers were involved in the high level discussions on the reforms to the education Scotland and the SQA. It is important that the Scottish qualifications review does not duck the big issues. Any reform programme must address the mismatch between the curriculum's ambition and what the national qualifications deliver or fail to deliver right now for our young people. To conclude despite what they say the Scottish Government remains complacent about education in Scotland. There are fewer teachers larger class sizes a growing attainment gap and fewer levels of numeracy and literacy and far fewer subject choices. The withdrawal from international comparisons has shielded the Government from proper scrutiny while their reforms to education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority appear to be nothing more than cosmetic changes. Nicola Sturgeon said herself that she should be judged on her education record and she stated, I want to be judged on this. If we are to judge her on this it is obvious that young people have been failed by the Scottish Government not just now but for each of the last 15 years that the SNB have been in power. Thank you. I now call on Graham Day to be followed by Pam Duncan-Glancy again for around six minutes. Earlier this month during the debate on programme for government, Liz Smith made some legitimate points about the expectation that both the Scottish Government would work together to address the cost of a loving crisis. I could reasonably observe that in order to work together the relationship requires to be respectful and one of equals in that the conduct to the UK Government towards the Scottish counterparts and the comments from the new Prime Minister directed at the First Minister have hardly engendered that. Liz Smith is a long-serving and respected member of this institution was right in what she asserted. Those are similar expectations from the public. In fact, I would argue expectations we as MSPs ought to have of ourselves. As an MSP of less long standing than Liz Smith but one who served here for more than a decade I want to focus in the context of this debate and what I would argue is one of those. The off-herd cry in this place is that it is the role of Parliament to hold the Government to account and it is. But I say particularly Stephen Kerr how the institution sets about that task as every bit is important. Just returning to the back bench as well this year I have been pleased to serve on the Parliament's education committee. It has under the convenership of a successor Sue Webber been a pleasure not least of all because of the approach that has been taken has been fostered and taken by members a genuine cross-party endeavour to interrogate fairly the condition of our education system in a balanced way giving credit where it is due and offering criticism where and when it is merited. The recent unanimously agreed report into the attainment gap was ever and so that. I would contend that the Parliament would benefit from seeing that approach being replicated here in the chamber where regrettably too often oppositional politics tend to come to the point where they overwhelm reaching measured and balanced conclusions. Too often in this place a debate especially around topics such as education descends into a Government awful versus Government good contest and the truth in reality lies somewhere in between. The Scottish Government isn't perfect and yes sometimes we on this benches need to acknowledge that but nor is it anything like deserving of the nature of the criticism that pours down on it sometimes from opposition benches and in treating subjects like education as a political football we not only let down those seeking the best from it the parents, the pupils, the professionals we also sometimes ignore or downplay the actual causes of shortcomings that contribute factors to these and that does nothing to achieve the goals and collectively we all hold. There is much to celebrate in our education system despite it being sized right by the pandemic and I want to highlight briefly one or two aspects of that as they relate to my Angus South constituency. The significant strides made in partnership with the SNP Scottish Government and Angus Council to improve our schools of state the progress made again jointly by a transformational early years and childcare offering and congratulations are due to the teaching staff and the pupils of Monififeeth and Webster's High Schools along with our brother Academy whose 21-22 exam results performance represented a significant step forward but equally with an education locally and nationally there remains areas for improvement as the Cabinet Secretary has acknowledged. Presiding Officer in the course of participating in the education committee's inquiry into progress in the attainment challenge is struck not only by the passion of the teachers we met in West Central Scotland for the task at hand but their willingness to innovate and learn from mistakes more recently in the course of the inquiry into the impact of college regionalisation which the committee is conducting I had a raised smile at hearing from college representatives of the benefits from merger and regionalisation oh how I remember the reaction of the college establishment and the idea of merger and regionalisation was advanced by Michael Russell let's just say it was arctic in its warmth now I'll highlight these particular examples to illustrate the importance on the one hand listening to those at the co-face and then rolling out best practice whilst also recognising that sometimes you have to implement change because it's the right thing to do regardless of possible resistance to it from vested interests and that brings me to the second subject I wanted to focus on in my contribution and that's the change to come that others have highlighted most specifically implementing the recommendations of Ken Muir's report the education committee's recent session with the leadership of the SQA threw up an interesting exchange around the shaping of reform or more accurately the replacement of the body we explored the concern on the part of some that what is being embarked upon will produce actually only a rebranding as others have noted as Michael Marra highlighted at the session the fact that of the 11 strong delivery board six are employees of the SQA will only heighten those concerns whether they're justified or not now of course as I said earlier having co-face input is important if nothing else it can potentially identify problematic unintended consequences of change and I'm in no doubt whatsoever as to the intent of the Government and this Cabinet Secretary in this regard but when the SQA chief executive Fiona Robertson tells the committee that she does not accept that the decision to replace it is indicative of a conclusion being reached that it has failed then you've got to understand the concern because if the SQA don't think they're being replaced because they've got things wrong then how can we be certain with such a significant in-house presence on the board that the recommendations which will come forward recognise the need for genuine change in the way that Ken Muir and the Cabinet Secretary by their comments and actions have indicated as required including I wonder if during her closing remarks the Cabinet Secretary might provide some reassurance around exactly how she's going to ensure that the modus operandi of the new awarding body which has been accepted must change how it will undergo the transformation that's being sought and I do so sadly holding the view after listening to Mr Kerl's contribution and to the lesser extent that of Willie Rennie that there's a far greater chance of that than my earlier plea being naive I live and hope said as a man United fan I now call Pam Duncan Glancy to be followed by Ross Greer again for in six minutes Ms Duncan Glancy an excellent education is the best thing we in this place can offer our young people to give them a fighting chance at a future but while it's important to appreciate the excellence in our education system it would be naive of us to overlook its shortcomings the reality is far too many young people are falling through the cracks we cannot celebrate excellence in education when the very system it relies on falls short of excellence right now in a number of ways that is the case for the system we have our teachers are being asked to do more with less that isn't excellent cut after cut to classroom workforces isn't excellent but above all not all children from an education equally that is not excellent this year's exam is yes Bob Doris Apologies for interruption I feel flow but thank you for giving me you mentioned young people falling through the cracks no one wanted Covid but one of the things the alternative certification model did as young people with the most deprived backgrounds did far better under the alternative certification model than under conventional exams we need the balance between continuous assessment and examination has to be looked at seriously as it currently is being to make sure those young people with the most deprived backgrounds can do as good as they can because that seemed in a limited fashion to stop some of them falling through the gaps Pam Duncan-Glass here and give you the time back to that I thank the member for the intervention and the Presiding Officer for the generosity around the time I think that these issues are incredibly important and I'm sure that the party my party are willing to talk to that we get the best possible system we can for our young people to ensure that everyone can strive for the best education they can get and get the best out of it possible above all not all children as I say are enjoying or benefiting from our education equally and this year's exam results revealed that the attainment gap between the richest and the poorest pupils has grown with the gap in higher qualifications almost doubling and the national 5 and advanced higher gaps widening considerably as we've already heard and there is another gap too that I believe we must focus on the gap between disabled and non-disabled pupils the most recent results show that there is a 5 point gap between disabled and non-disabled pupils who achieve an A to C at higher and it's not just this data that should be of concern to us just 43 per cent of pupils with additional support needs leave school with one or more SCQF level 6 qualifications compared to 74 per cent for pupils without ASN disabled pupils are six times more likely not to be in education, employment or training when they leave school in the longer term disabled people remain more likely to be unemployed and enable confirmed this morning in the social justice and social security committee that the disability employment gap wider here than elsewhere is 32 per cent while failures on social justice and tackling poverty more widely is a conversation for another debate the correlation between disability and poverty further exacerbates the disadvantages of disabled young people by the compounded inequality they face the numbers speak for themselves but so do disabled people and this summer I went round Scotland to speak to people and they told me how hard it is for them and I want to put my thanks to them on the record now I also want to thank members who engaged with me during that conversation young people told me and their families that at a time when they should be focusing on what they want to do when they grow up they and their families are spending endless hours chasing and calling people and agencies who are needed to support them to get on they are project managing their own life staff in schools social work and other agencies are doing their best but the postcode lottery that's developed around local authority spending on support for young disabled people is making it harder for them harder for them and holding young people back support in the teaching workforce is being drawn back to with the number of dedicated ASN teachers dropping by 16.3% between 2012 and 2019 that's 553 teachers who are no longer available to offer the dedicated, specialised and tailored support these young people really need and these cuts to the classroom workforce come at a time where the number of ASN pupils is continuing to increase meaning teachers are being asked to stretch themselves even thinner and being asked to divide their time between more and more pupils not only is this threatening their ability to ensure young disabled people get the fighting chance they need and deserve but it also impacts on teacher wellbeing too the situation is so detrimental that many young people feel they have no option but to leave school prematurely and disabled people are five times more likely to do so than their non-disabled peers colleagues despite people doing what they can education is failing disabled people in Scotland and that's why I'm asking members to join people across Scotland and support my young disabled people's transitions bill I'm asking for their support to ensure that every young disabled person in Scotland has the statutory right to transitions plan no matter where they live or what school they go to to ensure that government is accountable by reporting to Parliament on a national transition strategy and to require agencies to work together to reduce the burden on families who have to project manage at a time when they should really be dreaming I will give way Marta Whitfield I'm very grateful to the member giving way and she's very right to publicise her member's bill but there is also the opportunity in the national discussion also for disabled people to contribute to it so that becomes the evidence in how our education system looks going forward in conclusion Ms Duncan-Glatsie I thank the member for the intervention in conclusion I'd say this bill is a step to reduce the attainment gap and truly give each and every young person a fighting chance at a future and I'd like to thank Campbell Scotland Inclusion Scotland and my predecessor in this place Joanne Lamont for their hard work and getting us to this point in closing let me share what I think is the strongest case for the bill at age 16 disabled people have the same aspirations as everyone else but at age 26 they feel hopeless and that nothing they ever do will change their lives colleagues that can't go on it's time to make real tangible action to improve education for young disabled people and to give them the fighting chance they deserve I don't intend on talking solely about what's already going well in Scottish education there is plenty to celebrate but this afternoon is an important opportunity for us to acknowledge the challenges it faces and to discuss how we tackle those that being said I do want to start with some positives Scotland is amongst the most highly educated countries in the world and our PISA scores, albeit not a perfect measure are high. In 2018, as the cabinet secretary mentioned Scottish people scored 534 on the global competence assessment far higher than the average of 474 one of the top results in the world after a long term decline teacher numbers are now up and the pupil-teacher ratio is going down once again the bute house agreement between the parties of government commits to an additional 5000 permanent teaching posts compared to pre-pandemic levels that's around 3,500 new posts 300 or so temporary contracts created during the pandemic replaced by permanent ones there are challenges with how the money allocated to that is being spent as alluded to by Billy Rennie how it's being spent by councils I should specify and I hope that we have a chance to come back to that later because I think it presents us with some challenging questions around the autonomy of local government versus ring fencing funds for specific purposes we shouldn't lose sight of these positives and the many many others but as the motion rightly acknowledges there are still significant challenges in particular a huge amount of progress still to make we need to recognise the key drivers of that gap and thus the ways that will actually close rather than mitigate it a poverty related attainment gap needs to tackled its source by eradicating child poverty whilst it's never quick enough we have seen child poverty in Scotland reduce in the last few years as the Scottish government's delivering policies such as the child payment free bus travel for young people and mandating the real living wage amongst those bidding for public sector contracts and families with their finances Pam Duncan-Glancy I thank the member for that intervention and eradicating child poverty is indeed the aim that we should all have in the job that we are doing but does the member recognise that the current audit Scotland has said that the process that the Scottish Government is using in the Scottish child payment in other areas is looking to alleviate child poverty rather than end it completely I am grateful to the member for that intervention I think that presents a key challenge when it comes to the question of the powers that we actually have available to us if we want to tackle child poverty at source it's reserved powers like being able to set the minimum wage that will do that rather than simply compensating for poverty wages as set by the UK Government's minimum wage level through devolved social security payments it's essential though that we don't expect teachers and support staff to perform a role somewhere between that of a social worker and a miracle worker we know that schools do perform miracles every day but we can't expect them to solve all the social ills and inequalities that pupils arrive with each morning however poverty can of course be exacerbated by school related factors these are areas that we can and we are taking action in right now in the final budget of the last session of Parliament the Greens and SNP agreed to expand free school meals to primary 4 and 5 pupils and to include P6 and 7 as soon as possible we acknowledge that councils had concerns about the speed at which Government was rolling this out and that it's important giving the cost of living crisis thus the commitment in this year's programme for government school uniform costs have long been an increasing burden on families and they are one of many areas where prices are rising right now so I'm proud the Greens manifesto proposal for statutory guidance to limit the cost of uniforms was included in the bute house agreement and the consultation for that guidance is on-going I would encourage members to engage with groups in our own local communities such as PTAs and youth groups to respond to that before the 14th of October to ensure that uniforms are affordable but also to address issues of inequality such as needlessly gendering school uniform policies which result in girls paying more than boys because their required skirts are more expensive than the trousers for example turning to exams and qualifications I'm more aware than most of the avoidable but fortunately reversed disaster of the SQA's 2020 alternative certification model of the huge work code issues and stress caused by the 2021 model and of the disbelief at the patronising study guides that we are aware this year it's true and absolutely worth repeating that this year's results are most comparable to 2019 rather than the intervening years and that on that basis there has been a slight narrowing of the attainment gap but the comparative data sets we now have pose a question critical to the current review being led by Professor Hayward on which Bob Dorr has posed a moment ago why when student grades are based on the professional judgment of teachers and on the work those pupils have produced throughout the year is the attainment gap based on high stakes end of term exams The review of 2021's model showed that there's a strong preference for alternative methods such as continuous assessment young people across the country have come to the conclusion that antiquated Victorian era high stakes all or nothing exams are not an assessment method fit for the 21st century thanks to pressure from learners, teachers MSPs and children's rights defenders this year's appeal system was at least a significant improvement, that's a positive step I want to celebrate, learners can appeal directly they can do so for free and beyond the specific case of clerical errors there's no detriment policy in place there can be no return to the old appeal or remarking system to do so we take us further away from UNCRC compatibility the appeal system may have improved though but yet again the SQA's communication with learners was far below what it should have been yet again there was a breakdown of trust but key stakeholders as laid out by the chair of the Scottish youth parliament Sophie Reid the SQA again communicated only with schools and colleges not directly with students the intention of the only young person on the NQ group Sophie Reid that direct communication was later issued to young people over social media I was on the education point five years ago when we issued a report scathing of the SQA in particular of its ability to communicate with young people and teachers they had the opportunity to improve they did not and now they're being replaced briefly before I finish I understand entirely the skepticism of a reform process so heavily populated by officials of the organisation which has failed but I do want to thank professors Hayward and Muir for their continued involvement they've proven their ability to tell the Government hard truths and I want to welcome the appointment of children's rights expert Dr Tracy Kirk I worked alongside to undo the damage caused by the SQA's alternative certification models during the pandemic despite the successes which we should all celebrate there are serious problems of both governance and policy in Scottish education but their reform process now under way is the opportunity to address them the Greens have and will continue to put forward our proposals for reform across all areas complaining is easy it's also often justified but we will all be thanked far more by young people and by teachers if we all put the effort in to deliver the changes that they are crying out for thank you I call Stephanie Callaghan to be followed by Russell Finlay thank you Presiding Officer and it's an honour to participate in such an important debate let me be clear from the very start the main threat to Scottish education is the persistent callous poverty policies of the current UK Government and in TV this morning I watch people despair about their mortgages heating their homes and feeding their kids and this has got everything to do with education because as long as our children and young people live with the stress and despair poverty things we can't expect them to arrive at school feeling ready to learn today Presiding Officer the Tories speak to an amendment that contains not a single positive word on excellence or achievements nothing at all that celebrates our pupils students, teachers or further education and it's telling that having a pop at the Scottish Government is the only content there Presiding Officer what is excellence in education? While it can mean different things to different people excellence is essentially about providing young people with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need for learning, life and work in the 21st century it's also about happiness wellbeing health and confidence Scotland is a proud educational history dating back centuries where innovation and embracing the future has defined our institutions producing one of the world's most educated populations excellence should be for everyone and we must always strive for that and education is about much more than academic achievement it's about providing supportive environments that encourage individuals to learn and thrive in a way that's meaningful to them and about recognising their wide range of achievements excellence is driven from the ground up putting individuals at the centre of policy and building the strength to create lifelong learners equipping our young people to craft their own path to success and lead fulfilling lives recent times have brought unprecedented changing challenges reinforcing the need to put people's wellbeing and mental health at the centre of all we do including education and there's much work still to be done around this and other reforms others have highlighted already today but while every child is capable of excellence some face much bigger barriers and challenges than others and that's especially those living in poverty closing the poverty-related attainment gap remains critical and the pandemic challenged earlier progress now Bob Doris has mentioned already the education committee's meeting with a large group of teachers at St Rock's and Glasgow to discuss the Scottish attainment challenge funding now the teachers there did highlight many challenges but they also told us how they were reaching into families and understanding poverty like never before these teachers spoke about creativity and in-depth work to support families and help children achieve and it really was inspiring the Scottish Government's continued investment in attainment one billion over this Parliament will continue that work we know the poverty-related attainment gap snacks early and that's why the Scottish Government continues to invest so heavily in extending free nursery care with the living for terrers for every three and four year old and also vulnerable two year olds as well as early learning free school meals and uniform grants many wider policies tackle policy including the game changing Scottish child payment free bus travel, social security renewable energy and many many more all of these impact our young people's future but the current cross to living crisis is a growing threat as noted Presiding Officer staying at the forefront of change means listening Scotland's curriculum for excellence was ahead of the curve in 2010 and many other countries have followed that lead but we must continually strive to improve and make the changes that are needed at the invitation of the Scottish Government the OECD reviewed curriculum for excellence and we listened except in all 12 of the recommendations and the significant changes under way as a result do bring significant challenges but they also bring opportunities making our education system fit for the future also means listening to our learners and everyone with an interest in education as the Cabinet Secretary noted that's why the current national discussion in education invites children, young people families and teachers to help us in getting it right for every child sadly and I say that as a parent a children grow up and they move on from school and this year we've seen exceptionally high positive outcomes for our school leavers we're 92.4% moving on to positive outcomes and that is a real testament to the dedication of Scotland's teachers Presiding Officer, I'm also grateful to our teaching professionals across tertiary education for their hard work in difficult times their commitment to our students to businesses and to progress is really very clear the success of new college Lanashire Smart Hub a collaboration with North Lanashire Council and University of Stratford and other partners is a really good example not only are businesses benefiting and being encouraged to invest in technology the college are sparking school pupils' interest in STEM careers thanks to accessing the Scottish Government's Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund Finally Presiding Officer I must mention the privilege of working with Dave McMillan Nobel Prize winner in chemistry This Nobel Laureate credits much of his success to Scottish education and I had the pleasure of reconnecting Dave with his old school Baleshill Academy Dave's love of science took him to America but he returns to his family in his roots in Baleshill often and I really can't wait for a next school visit to watch him inspire even more pupils into scientific careers David McMillan an ordinary wee Lanashire Ladi is living proof that the sky is the limit for our young people This is real excellence and may he inspire many young Scots Thank you Thank you Thank you Presiding Officer I very much enjoyed the robust contribution from Stephen Kerr our party's new education Supremo who regularly schools this SNP Government We've heard many interesting contributions but I was particularly impressed by Sue Webber Willie Rennie and Michael Marr's thoughtful and passionate contributions I was also refreshing to hear such a thoughtful and measured contribution from Graham Day As for his admission that the Scottish Government is not perfect well done but I fear that SNP whips will already have been informed and in fact they may have already got him he's vanished Presiding Officer let's begin with some simple truths Despite the cabinet secretary's selective exercise in self-congratulation under the SNP Scotland's education system has gone from world-renowned to distinctly average and as the minister has already attempted to allege this is not a criticism of our hardworking pupils and teachers for whom I have great respect As Stephen Kerr and Willie Rennie have already said a reminder is what the First Minister said in 2015 and I quote Now that I'm First Minister I'm determined indeed I have a sacred responsibility to make sure every young person in our land gets the same chance I had to succeed at whatever they want to do in life Sacred responsibility fine words First Minister She also stated Let me be clear I want to be judged on this If you are not as First Minister prepared to put your neck in the line on the education of our young people then what are you prepared to it really matters yet more fine words First Minister and then there's the attainment gap a phrase that gets bandied about but what it actually means it's about the gulf in outcomes between children from poorer and richer households in 2016 the SNP stated that closing the gap would be there and I quote defining mission and would again quoting substantially eliminate it over a decade and with three years left of that decade how's that going well this year the gap get bigger again it should surprise no one that the SNP have now effectively abandoned their time target again despite what the cabinet secretary said today so much for a defining mission it's like me announcing that I'm going to sit advanced higher physics without saying when this might actually happen quite rightly no one would take such a claim seriously in the same way we can no longer take seriously very much about education that comes out of the mouths of SNP ministers ministers who love to talk big but often fail to deliver other speakers today will no doubt or I've already laid bare that how the global good reputation of Scottish education has been trashed under the SNP but they're not merely content with reducing pupils life chances there's also the other fixation and that's bringing the damaging obsession with breaking up the UK into the classroom this is done through the rewriting of history I'm happy to give way Mr Allen a few Alistair Allen I thank the member for giving way I fear the damaging obsession maybe the members and I ask is he really saying that teachers in Scotland's schools are in some way indoctrinating children because that's the direction he's going Russell Finlay let me turn to what I was about to explain and in answer to your second point about Government direction not teachers I'll start with the curious case of the Loch Ness monster Education Scotland told school children that Nessie can somehow help them form a view on an independence referendum the education sorry is that the word Jesus from the front bench Cabinet Secretary I have to say I did utter a despair because we have been through this countless times and Dr Allen is absolutely quite correct to say that the resources that are developed by Education Scotland or by people from Education Scotland are not developed from the Government and they are used by teachers that we have a higher tone that we could be having in this debate and the member is sorely sorely lacking in that and that is a disservice not just to him but to his party and quite frankly to the Parliament because the fact that we are on this when we could be debating so many other things is utterly desperate I think what the Cabinet Secretary should do is listen to the experts who are making these views clear you might not the Cabinet Secretary might not enjoy hearing it but it's absolutely valid to raise and it's worth listening to what they have to say so Education campaigner Chris McGovern has made this particular episode as propaganda and an attempt and I quote an attempt to brainwash pupils into believing that Scotland is the victim of a wicked conspiracy Neil MacLennan who is a former president of the Scottish Association of Teachers of History has called out nationalism and education also he wrote recently our children deserve better these are global citizens growing up in an interconnected world narrow nationalist ideas we have no place in this classroom I'm sorry I don't have enough time to do so then there's the historians Tom Divine who described Education Scotland the road to the Scottish Parliament teaching guide isn't propaganda there's many more of this but having taken these interventions I don't have any time to spare Presiding Officer I'd also like to touch on a subject very quickly close to my heart and that's the joy of reading which is shared by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon often tweets about her love of books but with one in eight public libraries closed since 2010 if only Scottish children were as fortunate as the Bute House bibliophile the FM's enthusiastic of a spousal for literature makes the following episode quite hard to swallow and that relates to the book that was issued for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee I will now wind up my remarks because we are out of time but to conclude I look forward to hearing from Pam Gosol who also has a great passion for education and who closes for us today Thank you and I call on Foisal Chowdhury to be called by Jenny Minto Thank you Presiding Officer I want to start by offering my congratulations to the young people who passed their exams this summer their years in education were more disparate than any in living memory and they can rightly be proud of their achievements The legacy of Covid will take many years to filter through our education system where it has unfortunately been intensifying and existing problems that have been there for years I'm therefore dismayed by the motion before us which is the sort of motion we have come to accept from of this government mostly self-congratulation with only occasional reference to the idea that not everything is rosy yet we are only 18 months down the line from the joint report from the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission which found inconsistent progress in the national improvements while the Scottish Government is content to pretend that all problems started with Covid that report also said the poverty-related time and gap remains wide and inequalities have been excavated by Covid-19 these problems were not created by the pandemic we know those existing inequalities have been there for many years and we know that they have repercration right through our society the Scottish Labour amendments highlights the scale the poverty-related attainment gap this year we should not be tempted not to believe that this ends with this school year we know that these inequalities filter through society they they entrance themselves geographically and generatically the longer this inequality persists the more Scotland will literally and figuratively be poorer it will be poorer in the lost human potential of people who could have gone on to greater things but were held back by the circumstance of their birth and it will be poorer as this affects accumulate and blight particular areas and particular communities across Scotland we know for example that poverty and race are closely correlated in Scotland the Joseph Round tree says that poverty levels for people in minority ethnic communities in Scotland are double the national leverage and rising the Scottish Government as always has warm words on these matters of equality but when we see the educational inequality repeated year after year even in the years before Covid we should be aware of exactly what that means for marginalised people across Scotland by allowing by allowing the poverty time and gap in education to become entrenched we are limiting the life chances of those in ethnic minority communities we are therefore also continuing the cycle that leads to poverty becoming entranced in those communities surely we can hope for better than this Scotland has in so many ways come so far here in Edinburgh we have recently seen the slavery and colonialism legacy review group chaired by my friend Jack Palmer which has done so much to help our city come to terms with its past sorry I've got a lot to go through but what goes what good is coming to terms with the past if we are entrancing inequalities in future generation this is part of why I strongly believe in anti-racist reform in our education system as I have said in this chamber before I do praise the Scottish Government for setting up its race quality and anti-racism in education program but the last time I raised this I was promised we would hear more from the promise over summer what happened I firmly believe we need an education system that both addresses the inequalities faced by ethnic minorities within it and the injustice of Scotland's past it must address the inequalities I've already mentioned and it must also contain curriculum reform to address the legacy of colonialism and wider racism and work to create an actively anti-racist Scotland only then we will start making social progress worthy of the warm words of the Scottish Government the Government's motion does not express the reality of the inequality facing Scottish education I will be supporting the Scottish labour amendments thank you and I call Jenny Minto the final speaker in the open debate it is with great pleasure in this debate on the excellence of education in Scotland I will focus my speech on my constituency of Argyllun Bute where there are many examples of this excellence I want to pay tribute to all teachers and staff who make our schools and colleges great places to learn Argyllun Bute is home to so many diverse communities each with their own assets and challenges community collaboration is key to delivery of excellent education and so it was a much delight but no surprise that I learned last week that Dunedin Grammar School's success in being shortlisted in the top three world's best schools for community collaboration an incredible achievement and I was so pleased to mark it today by welcoming pupils and teachers from the school to the parliament including their inspirational head David Mitchell they had a ball, they thoroughly enjoyed it just to see children so excited to be in the parliament and take interest in what was happening in this chamber was truly inspirational so more about what the school achieved later as I first want to talk about UHI Argyll they offer further and higher education in nine centres across Argyllun Bute from Tobormory to Campbelltown Islay to Helensborough and last Friday I joined staff, students and guests at the university's graduation ceremony was full of people bursting with pride as student after student took to the stage to be awarded their degrees in many diverse subjects the guest speaker was Ryan McCague having experienced state intervention early in his childhood he overcame significant personal financial and social barriers to graduate from the University of Staff Clyde with a first class law degree he is now a dispute resolution and criminal defence lawyer Ryan is also truly inspiring his message was simple positive relationships are at the centre of everything he encouraged the graduates in fact everyone in the hall to continue to connect with people to be resilient, have the right mindset and to build positive relationships this August our parliament hosted the international culture summit Andreas Schleiser director of education and skills at the OECD also focused on the importance of teaching he reminded us that learning is a social experience he suggested we think about our own schooling your favourite subjects were more likely the ones that you connected with your teachers I can certainly attest to that when I compare my interests in modern studies to physics social and community learning is something that is happening across Argyll and Bute for example acts outdoor nursery in Loch Gilpedd has shown progress with preschool children with additional support needs we have struggled to settle into more structured settings consistently research has demonstrated that outdoor learning shows levels of success unmatched in other approaches and brings many benefits that anyone who has splashed in a muddy puddle or guuddled in a rock pool will understand children express themselves more freely out of doors and can explore with creativity and communication in the most natural way possible an independence supply chain specialist in the green energy industry, renewable parts limited based on Loch Gilpedd believe that introducing new jobs and skills is central to growing their organisation and work closely with Loch Gilpedd high school offering job experience three month attachments and apprenticeships a business that's building good community relationships with the school and learners and providing a path to training and jobs the Scottish government has just launched its let's talk Scottish education which is the next step in this ambitious period of education reform the time is right to reflect and consider the attributes, skills and knowledge young people will need in the future and the associated support they will need towards gathering these Argyllun Bute Council recently completed a rather bruising consultation on reshaping education delivery it's been a difficult time for everyone involved and trust needs to be rebuilt but we've been shown the way remember Ryan's words connection, mindset, resilience and relationships I hope the council officials, elected representatives teachers, parents and learners will focus on these to ensure the best services established but back to Dynun Grammar School their recognition is richly deserved so what can education in Scotland learn from them head teacher David Mitchell says our mission statement here at Dynun Grammar School is about being at the heart of the community where we strive together to achieve excellence and have set up so many partnerships in the curriculum this isn't just words this is how the school works young people learn best when they feel they're doing something meaningful not just textbook stuff so let's look at the Dynun project which promises to be one of the most exciting and innovative community regeneration schemes ever seen in Scotland the project board approached the school to ask the young people would be interested in working with them now with mountain biking, a zipline so a student advisory board was set up putting young people right at the centre of the entire project getting the opportunity to shape Dynun's future community collaboration helps young people reach their potential by allowing them to take part in activities that are real learning experiences and as teacher Paul Gallana says we are so passionate about our young people being part of the community because they're not just the future they are the here and now so presiding officer to conclude Andreas Schleicher opened his contribution to the international culture summit with the words the future is always going to surprise us to ensure Scotland is finding solutions to these surprises we need our education system to be inspirational, innovative and people focused so let's learn from the success of Dynun grammar school let's take inspiration from Ryan and let's follow the example set by companies like renewable parts and let's work collaboratively within our communities to ensure that the decisions are the best decisions are made for our future thank you we move to closing speeches and I call on Martin Whitfield I'm very grateful presiding officer and it is a pleasure to close this debate which has ranged in emotions across the entire alphabet I think but there has been some clear water and clear light and it is interesting to see the start possibly of hands across the chamber to seek a unified approach which is of course one of the purposes behind the national discussion on education but I'd first like just to start by paying Nacoled to Jenny Minto and actually possibly more important to Ryan about that ability to overcome your challenges and to achieve even when you have so many barriers in front of you and the fact that he pointed to probably the single most important factor and all that, the ability to build relationships with those that care for us for our teachers, for those around us and that skill is so important and perhaps one that a significant number of our young people perhaps struggle with perhaps we all do when you compare the idea of what was your favourite lesson and then say was that your favourite teacher and how often that comes to be the same but the Scottish Labour welcomes the launch of the government's national discussion on education. It is essential that the voices of those in education sector are listened to, parents, teachers but also our young people and that's why I very much welcome the First Minister's comments yesterday in the conveners group meeting when asked about how that conversation can take place so that children and our young people can contribute properly and there is a great deal of expertise here in Scotland in allowing the voice of young people both to be on the table but also to influence the decisions are made so I very very much welcome that and on the back of that I want to turn to the contribution of Graham Day which I think was excellent I think to reach out in that way places a challenge on those in opposition to do the same back because I think our education our young people and indeed Scotland deserve that so I would like to say and put on the record thank you because in one area of it I think there is agreement across this chamber I know it's not a difficult I know it's not an easy problem to reconcile but there is concerns raised both by Mr Gray, by Ross Greer by Sue Webber and others about those that are making up the advisory committees on how education is going to go forward I think there is an opportunity to reconsider that I think there is an opportunity if not to change the structure of the committees on those who can influence it and in part the responsibility of this chamber in ourselves as MSPs to look at the evidence that they listen to look at the conclusions that are gathered and actually try and move our education system forward for the young people both who are in it now but those who will come forward Scottish Labour has called for urgent action I will do it I would also like to pay tribute to Graham Day in his remarks and I completely take on board the message that he imparted in his speech but I also greatly encouraged by the idea that we can work together on the basis of evidence rather than party dogma so I would very much like to endorse what Martin Whitfield has said Martin Whitfield I'm very grateful for that intervention perhaps the arms across the chamber are spreading wider than we had hoped and we needed to build on that but I am grateful for that intervention we did call for urgent action following the OECD report on the curriculum for excellence because the curriculum for excellence still remains the foundation stone of our education going forward there are changes being proposed there is an announcement my colleague Foisal Charity talked about the work in Edinburgh that Sir Jeff Palmer has done the actual content of what our children learn will change and it does rest on our teachers who have the expertise and professionalism to make that decision but actually to go back to the full capacities that were mentioned in the very first speech in the open debate if we are going to create lifelong learners we need to use different vehicles to reach out to the different young people that present in our schools it would be remiss and my apologies to Graham Day if I'm not to poke a little bit of fun at the motion that was before us because we had an interesting contribution from a number of people about what exactly excellence means we have the motion in front of us saying it was the strongest ever set of results for any exam year well not if you were a pupil who was sitting highest from the 20% most deprived areas where the results fell by 13% comparing to the 5.9% decrease and the 20% least deprived areas welcome to the attainment gap has closed over the last 10 years of course going back to March 2021 when the watchdog at Scotland reported the poverty related attainment gap remains wide and inequalities have been exacerbated by Covid-19 which has to be admitted the report acknowledged that some progress had been made but concluded it was limited and full short of the Scottish government's aims and it is slightly disappointing that the government is now welcoming a fact that fell short of their aims only such a short period ago and the record of high number of full time first degree entrance to university coming from the most deprived areas in Scotland 16.7% of students from the most deprived 20% and please forgive me for this but I would point out that there is an increase in 18 year old applicants from the most deprived areas in Wales up to 24% rather than the 21.1% that occurred last year but I do welcome and to go back to Graham Day I'm sorry I'm just going to keep repeating Graham to put your name on the record more than anyone's, apologies for that but I do welcome that the SNP green government motion acknowledges that significant progress is still required and I think it is in that that we can reach out across this chamber to do what is right my apologies to those who contributed and I was unable to make mention of the contributions we've heard but Scottish Labour believes in an education system which will enable our country to reach its potential to equip our young people with the skills that they'll need to rely on throughout their life respond to the needs of our employees and building a high wage high skilled economy to live is not just to exist we must strive to live fully and not just to survive that's what our education service our education system and indeed what our young people thank you Presiding Officer thank you and I call on Pam Gossel thank you Presiding Officer I'm honoured to be closing this important debate on behalf of the Scottish Conservatives I of course support the amendments put forward by my colleague Stephen Kerr Presiding Officer to be frank it is shocking that this SNP government has the audacity to hold a debate on education and use the term in the title when the cabinet secretary knows herself that the Scottish education system despite being held a priority is in turmoil after 15 years of neglect under her SNP government the calls for change across this chamber today reflect the growing mood across Scotland as my colleague Stephen Kerr highlighted SNP love to reminisce on the glory days of Scottish education but fail to mention that that standard and quality has been resigned to history books and as my colleague Russell Finlay points out those same history books are likely to be littered with distorted fact and oozing out political grievance no I need to get on with my speech thank you are likely to be littered with distorted fact and oozing out political grievances schools flooded with SNP propaganda material the member Stephen Kerr rightly condemns the stripping away of virtually everything that is education less teachers, lower levels of literacy and numeracy and lack of emphasis on knowledge the list is endless my colleague Sue Weber drew our attention to the growing attainment gap and how the SNP government failed children and young people in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenges of remote learning I also welcome the contributions from the Lib Dem and Labour Ventures who with us condemn the SNP's repeated attempts at political spin to cover up the string of failures in Scottish education that this SNP Government has presided over I, like the member Michael Marra did attend the national discussion yes I agree full of good intentions however I did highlight at the meeting that I'm particularly worried about the area of financial resources in relation to how the SNP will deliver on the outcomes so let us see how that goes I really need to get on with my speech and you're going to be winding up cabinet secretary so you can cover that on that through the chair please sorry and the member Pam Duncan-Glancy talked about far too many children are falling through the cracks attainment gaps are growing it's a perfect example in my area in my region from East Dunbartonshire to West Dunbartonshire we see that the member Fausal Chaudry spoke about congratulating pupils I also congratulate them after such a horrific pandemic Willie Rennie spoke about many truths that was reality probably to the SNP Government rather than naming each person delivering a speech from the SNP and Greens benches today there was one thing that defined them all and that was patting themselves on the back facing up to the harsh reality and taking responsibility for failing too many children too many times in Scotland however I also want to mention the member Graeme Dey like my colleagues Russell Finlay Steven Kerr and the member Martin Whippen said I did enjoy listening to that the member is not a measured excuse me the member has made it clear she will not be taking an intervention Presiding officers staff and pupils have adapted so well to the challenging circumstances during and post pandemic but we also recognise that the scale of the challenge has been amplified by the mishandling of the portfolio at the very top the SNP Government have promised a lot universal free school bills from all primary school children laptops for every school pupil closing the attainment gap reducing class sizes improving the teacher pupil ratio and most importantly delivering for pupils however they have consistently failed to deliver over again and again on top of this we do not have an accurate picture of the state of education most notably because the SNP ruled us out of international comparisons there has been a notable decline in subjects central to a future economy such as modern languages STEM subjects and English at higher level and the attainment gap for those achieving an A at higher level is the largest in four years the time for change is now but this SNP Government is reluctant to change and only when pressured do they allow for reviews and reform as is clear from the Scottish Conservatives amendment we believe reform is a stretch when referring to what is taking place in our education system Ken Muir who recommended that the SQA and the Education Scotland be scrapped also made clear that the teacher should be deeply involved in the agency replacing SQA and the Education Scotland but to no surprise three quarters of the reform board either worked directly for the Scottish Government the SQA or the Education Scotland and how many were from the classrooms just three teachers the reluctance to even publish this information is evidence enough that the education system is set to sale a same course that has always done and by that I mean shrouded in secrecy and cover-ups in conclusion for the Scottish Conservatives reform means an independent inspections agency one that is fully accountable to the Parliament not themselves and one that is staffed by teachers not by civil servants it means a teacher led curriculum for all renewing the focus on subjects of knowledge and life skills it means more autonomy for the experts our teachers to designate resources in the most effective way to meet the needs their pupils and skills need it means rejoining the developing decent measurement of outcomes to ensure proper scrutiny transparency and awareness of education in Scotland but most importantly it means getting rid of practices that don't work and replacing them not rebranding them we trust our teachers why don't the SNP thank you I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville to wind up up to nine minutes cabinet secretary thank you very much can I start off with a positive after that last speech can I join Jenny Minto for their success it was a pleasure to meet them after FMQs I am still wearing my badge with pride for our debate on excellence in education and I think they are a good example of that and I think they are an example of what happens in many of our schools right across the country which is why we do have a good international reputation the 2018 PISA study which is an international study in case Pam Gozel isn't aware that we're still in it we say that Scotland was ranked amongst the top performing countries in global competence and that Scotland was indeed the fourth top performing country international council of education advisors and the OECD have highlighted that Scotland has an excellent reputation internationally yes there is more to do but we can work together to achieve that and I think really the debate was a tale of two tones we had I have to say a very constructive comments from the Labour Party members today and I thank Michael Marra and Martin Whitfield in particular but also to his back bench colleagues I thank them for their commitment to taking on the national discussion I'm more than happy to have further discussions with Michael Marra about the timings of the different areas of reform he will be aware that we have changed some of them slightly for example moving slightly to ensure that it is informed by the national discussion so sometimes I think he tells me to get on with it but then sometimes I think he says wait until we see what's in the national discussion so let's work together to see if we can come to some sort of compromise where we're on the same page on that because I think that's entirely possible Michael Marra I thank the cabinet secretary for that commitment I'm most happy to have those discussions does she also hear the consensus across the chamber about the concerns relating to the reform boards and the membership of those I'm sure she's coming on to that but I think it would be very good to reflect on that in this speech and to make a commitment to make sure that we can all have faith that this is a job that's going to be done and these organisations can be moved quickly to a resolution cabinet secretary he is indeed correct I will be coming on to that later so if he'll bear with me I will then turn to the Scottish Conservatives perhaps unfortunately but I will come back to that issue in relation to those constructive policy proposals that came from Stephen Kerr his first outing as education spokesperson I'm also disappointed that the Tories have chosen to delete all mention of the national discussion when they put in their amendment and I sincerely hope that that is not a reflection on their commitment to genuinely take forward what is something that is looking in consensus on this area we heard from a number of people particularly from Opposition but also from members from my own party about the importance of the attainment gap and tackling the attainment gap can I point out when we're talking about the results day from 2022 it is very important to look at that and compare it to the last year where we had exams because of course we had two years where we had an entirely different process of assessment there and if you're looking at that the gap between the attainment levels and the least and most of private areas has narrowed from the last time formal exams have taken place in 2019 that is at national 5 at higher and advanced higher so yes again of course there is more to do that is exactly why we are putting funding into this very substantially in £1 billion within this parliamentary term but even under the most difficult of circumstances I would congratulate again our young people for the results that they achieved and thank those who have helped them to achieve that within our schools and colleges and within homes to ensure that that could happen and I will come now to the issue of reform there was some diviety about who's in charge of reform from the Conservatives so let me put this very clearly there's one person in charge of reform and that's me and I have said time and time again in every public statement where we've talked about reform that I am absolutely determined to bring forward genuine change in our agencies I think that is needed I think that is required and I'm sure the agencies themselves are in absolutely no doubt it is something that we speak about every single time I have meetings with them now the work is taken forward by a strategic programme board yes it includes members of the Scottish Government that's Scottish Government officials who work under ministerial direction who as I said is me do have external members that have been appointed to the boards as well they are there to provide that input and critical challenge they are there to ensure once again that we achieve significant change in Scottish education and that's something that can't be done by Scottish Government alone but I would point out to members that the actual report by Professor Ken Muir when he discussed the new national bodies was to be established he was clear in the recommendation should be taken forward in partnership with the bodies subject to reform so yes we do need to ensure that we include the agencies we are replacing and we do need to ensure also that there are critical voices within that to ensure that I am held to my words on this and within the project boards that they are held to their work on that so there's a lot going on to ensure that that is happening and it's also important to point out that we are the only way to be involved so for example I chaired a stakeholder reference group yesterday there are numerous conferences happening over this time I've also spoken to the teachers panel about this issue and the boss group of curriculum leaders so there are a number of ways where teachers are being involved in this process the boards are but one way I'll give way to the expressions of concern from all sides of the chamber will she reconsider and add to the three teachers that are currently serving on the board perhaps with some more teachers on the profession Cabinet Secretary Forgive me a member which person pointed this out during the debate but unions are involved in this and I think you do a great disservice to trade unions if they're not there to represent their members who the last time I checked was to say that you need individual teachers who yes are involved but somehow the unions can't represent their members when that's exactly what they're entitled in there to do I think he's doing a great disservice to them but I would highlight once again it's not the only way for people to get involved Pam Duncan-Glancy I'm afraid I don't have time to get into the details of the points that you were raising but thank you for raising for them the member will be aware of the updated action plan that will be published later in the autumn and I'll be very pleased still to keep up the discussions around the member's bill as well as that progresses Ross Greer and indeed Stephanie Callaghan did also point out to the fact that eradicating the poverty-related detainment gap is very much helped by eradicating poverty and that's why when we talk about education we need to also think about what impacts on education and what is impacting on education is tackling child poverty many members including Stephanie Callaghan and Ross Greer pointed to the work that the Scottish Government is taking forward on this along with our partners in the Scottish Greens but it is clearly difficult to do that when we have a UK Government that seems hell-bent on trashing the entire economy and publishing bankers' bonuses more prominently than there is anything to do about poverty. We've also had discussions about teacher numbers and it's important to point out that teacher numbers are at the highest since 2008 we've seen 2,000 more teachers than pre-pandemic and Ross Greer is quite right to point out to the abuse house agreement commitments for us to go further and I think I might owe an apology to Fousal Chowdry from what he said during his speech if we didn't write to him when we've spoken about this last my apologies for that, I will make sure that that's followed up after today because we would require a meeting after that and more than happy to do that so if we didn't do that last time I will make sure we rectify that this time because he tackles a very important point once again in the chamber and I thank him for it about tackling race inequality and anti-racism and we have seen unfortunate incidents only last week where some of our educators have been attacked on social media for tackling this issue the other aspect I would say which we need to take account of in our reform is gender equality and I'm absolutely determined to ensure that gender equality relies right at the heart of our reform process I'll end by quoting Larry Flanagan if I may when he says, Scottish education is way ahead of the English system if you're attacking the system, you're attacking teachers it really annoys me because it should not be difficult for politicians to mobilise behind the efforts that schools are making I think we have the real opportunity to do that in the national discussion I'm determined to rise to that challenge many members have shown that they are also ready to rise to that challenge I think our children and young people deserve nothing less thank you that concludes the debate on excellence in Scottish education it's now time to move on to the next item of business which is consideration of two parliamentary bureau motions and I asked George Adam on behalf of the parliamentary bureau to move motions 6 0 8 9 and 6 0 9 0 on approval of SSIs during topical questions on the 6 of this month the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise Ivan McKee assured this Parliament that the budget and completion time scales for vessels 801 and 802 were on track last night we were told the vessels could cost another £84 million bringing the total cost to £336 million against the budget of £97 million furthermore that vessel 802 will be sub... if you're struggling to find this interesting the people of Scotland on the island so I represent find it very interesting so I'd actually suggest you listen to this thank you Mr Mountain furthermore that vessel 802 will be subject to further delays having visited Ferguson's shipyard on 2 September I knew that this was the case which is why I lodged my topical question three weeks ago so Presiding Officer either the Minister doesn't know what's going on in his portfolio which I'm sure he'll wish to deny or the Minister was hiding the fact and therefore misleading the Parliament if the latter is the case Presiding Officer how can the Parliament hold him and the Government to account I thank the member for advance notice of the point of order as members are aware I am not responsible for the content of a member's contribution if a member feels that another member has provided information that is incorrect in a contribution in the chamber then the corrections guidance sets out steps that the member may wish to take and of course there are the usual opportunities for scrutiny within the chamber thank you point of order Liam Kerr I'm very grateful Presiding Officer during First Minister's questions today the First Minister said in relation to Scotland's energy consumption we have a position where our net energy consumption is already provided by renewable energy sources now the assertion is demonstrably and evidentially false and I'm sure the First Minister would be pleased to be given an opportunity to correct the record such that a more accurate picture of the source of Scotland's energy provision could be given I wonder if you could guide the First Minister in how she might go about that in response to the member's point of order I would repeat as I have just said to Mr Mountain that if a member feels that another member has provided incorrect information by which to correct that thank you we'll now move on to decision time there are 11 questions to be put as a result of yesterday and today's business the first question is that amendment 6071.2 in the name of Jenny Gilruth which seeks to amend motion 6071 in the name of Graham Simpson on Scottish Government handling of ferry contracts be agreed are we all agreed the Parliament is not agreed therefore we'll move to a vote and there'll be a short suspension to allow members to access the digital voting system