 The next item of business is a debate on motion 2839 in the name of Megan Gallacher on education failures and guaranteeing the 2022 exam diet. I would invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request to speak buttons now or enter R in the chat function. I call on Megan Gallacher to speak to and move the motion up to seven minutes please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the opportunity to open this debate on education today and to move the motion in my name. Presiding Officer, the SNP's record on education has been a sorry tale of broken promises and failed reforms. The foundation was broken long ago. In 2016, the First Minister said that the defining mission of her government was education. In fact, so confident was the First Minister that she has to be judged on her education record. The SNP's dismal record on education presents a damning indictment indeed. The judgment is one of failure after failure. The pandemic, of course, has presented challenges and this was to be expected. Every MSP in this chamber will recognise that. When the First Minister announced in the programme for government that Covid will not be the defining experience for this current generation of young people, I am sure that there would not have been any dissenting voices. However, over the last two years, the Scottish Government has presided over examination chaos with last-minute cancellations and a system that reduced the grades of pupils of the most deprived areas across Scotland. MSPs were promised in this chamber that the SNP would learn from past experiences to ensure less disruption and stress for young people about to sit their exams during the pandemic. Yet here we are, new year, same old SNP. According to the Education Secretary, a final decision on exams could be made as late as the end of March. We were told that the SNP would put protections in place for young people in minimising disruption to education. Where are those protections? How can leaving young people in limbo about their examination diet be described as minimising disruption? How can leaving local authorities and teachers in the lurch over examination programmes be the best way for professionals to spend their time, especially when we know that the SNP is not recruiting enough teachers to catch up on law-scaling? If teachers were given a clear steer by this Government, they would be able to plan and make sure that their students are ready to sit their exams. I appreciate the opportunity to make an intervention. I am just seeking some clarification on exactly what the Conservatives' position in relation to exams is. If public health officials were to approach us in March or April and say that it is simply too dangerous for exams to proceed at that point, is the Conservatives' position that we should ignore that and proceed anyway, because it is too late to change course? The Conservative position is that the Scottish Government needs to make a clear stance on the examination diet. Other areas across the UK have already said that exams are going to go ahead, whereas here we are in Scotland without any clear guidance as to whether exams will definitely go ahead or not. That is not good for pupils, it is not good for teachers. I am going to make some progress just now, thank you. Recently, the education secretary announced that the Scottish Government had back-up contingencies in place to allow for exams to go ahead. However, it was later revealed that that was not the case and that there were no plans in place to hold exams at alternative venues in the event of Covid restrictions and that no money had been set aside for that. Again, going back to Ross Greer's points, those are the issues that we are raising today. Any responsible Government would have started preparing for this year's exams last year and would have made sure that alternative arrangements had been secured to ensure minimal disruption to school exams. As we know, the SNP is often fond of comparing Scotland to the rest of the United Kingdom, the UK Government has already committed to this year's examination process. That has provided pupils and teachers with the reassurance needed to allow pupils to be ready to sit their exams this year, yes, certainly. I am grateful for the member for allowing an intervention. Could she also perhaps clarify to the chamber whether the rest of the countries in the UK have a contingency in place public health guidance suggests that exams cannot go ahead? I would actually like the cabinet secretary to define what a contingency is, because she has not been very clear on that up until this point. Perhaps the Scottish Government could learn a thing or two from our friends south of the border. It is not just the opposition MSPs who are frustrated by the Scottish Government and their lackluster approach to exams. Daniel Wyatt, rector of Kelvinside academy in Glasgow, said that he was dismayed at the lack of clarity and is called for exams to go ahead unless a significant health concern emerged. He went on to say that leaving the decision until March is far too late and that it is not acceptable for the Scottish Government to behave this way as it shows a complete disregard for the mental health of pupils and staff following two years of disruption, distraction and disappointment all against the backdrop of coping with the impact of the pandemic. I agree with Mr Wyatt that the mental health of young people is paramount when it comes to exams. As we have witnessed in recent years, it is young people from poorer backgrounds who have suffered due to examinations being cancelled. Pupils that attend Great Hearth High School, for example, in Forgewood, an area that I represent is both a councillor and MSP, so a bright and hard-working pupil's grades lower to sorry, as previous decisions taken by the Scottish Government turned the exam system into a postcode lottery and reduced the efforts of pupils to entries in a spreadsheet. That is why the Scottish Conservatives are seeking a guarantee from the Scottish Government today that the 2022 examination process will go ahead and full. The Scottish Government amendment provides no confirmation that the exam diet will go ahead, and by voting in favour of this tonight, it is voting in favour of uncertainty and allowing the SNP to kick the can down the road instead of making the right decision for our young people. It will come as no surprise that Scottish Conservatives will be voting against this amendment tonight. To touch on the Labour amendment just briefly, I understand their position, however it could suggest that the cancellation of exams altogether in favour of an appeals process. It is not just the examination diet that is of serious concern. Analysis by several different sources show that the SNP's failed to close the attainment gap. In secondary schools, the attainment gap has grown for the percentage of pupils' meeting-expected levels of literacy, since attainment funding was introduced in 2017. A report by Audit Scotland suggests that the gap remains wide and that steps to close the gap needs to happen more quickly. Given the poor performance by the SNP in closing the attainment gap, the First Minister and the Scottish Government has failed when it comes to improving outcomes by ensuring that every child has the same opportunity to succeed. The SNP has overseen a decade of educational failures that have only been exacerbated during the pandemic. Instead of listing areas where the Government wants to give itself a pat on the back today, the cabinet secretary must commit to the 2022 examination diet and to outlining ways to tackle their abysmal record, especially when it comes to closing the attainment gap. It is clear that, despite the many warm words from the Government on education, it has never been its top priority. We are still living in a global pandemic and it continues to have a significant impact on education. For that reason, caution should remain and contingencies are needed in education as another aspect of life. I want to take this opportunity to thank our teachers and support staff for their on-going efforts to put our learners first. Indeed, we should all be working to put the interests of learners first in the face of on-going uncertainty. For that reason, I strongly disagree with this highly irresponsible motion and will set out the Government's plans to support pupils and staff at this time. This Government has increased our investment in the Scottish attainment challenge from £750 million over the last Parliament to a record £1 billion over the parliamentary term. That is supporting education recovery, tackling the attainment gap and recognising the impact of the pandemic. On top of the 1,400 teachers recruited during the pandemic, we have committed to bringing a further three and a half thousand teachers and 500 support staff into the system by the end of this Parliament. The school census data, published in December, shows that we already have 2,000 more teachers in the system than before the pandemic. There are now more teachers than at any time since 2008, and the ratio of pupils to teachers is at its lowest since 2009. I will make a little bit more progressive and I will be happy to bring Mr Kerrham. The focus of the entire education system, including teachers, head teachers and the SQA in this Government, is to ensure that young people are supported to perform as well as possible in their exams. As the First Minister reiterated last week, it is our firm intention that exams will take place in 2022. That position has not changed. There are a number of aspects to this. Firstly, significant modifications have already been made to current course assessment, both exams and coursework, to take into account disruption to learning. Second, contingency plans are in place, as the SQA outlined in August and described in more detail in September, to respond to the further significant national disruption that arises from Covid. There are two parts to the contingency plans. The fact that Opposition members were remarkably unaware of these measures last week when I reiterated them on social media says so much about their lack of understanding and about the on-going work on this issue and the lack of importance that they are placing on it. On that point, I am happy to bring in Megan Gallacher. The message from the Scottish Government has been rather confusing in relation to the contingencies that are in place, and yet we have yet to find out the detail of the contingencies. Is the cabinet secretary willing to give the information to members today, or have we yet to be left in the dark without knowing what those contingencies are? I refer Megan Gallacher to what the SQA has put out in August and described in more detail in September. They are working through what will happen for each individual course if the scenario 2 has to be implemented with our stakeholders, and it is important that we carry on that consultation with stakeholders. Scenario 2 is designed to provide further support to learners in the face of additional disruption but on the basis that exams will go ahead. That revision support, for example, will include, as Megan Gallacher has just asked, guidance on topics will be provided to help learners to maximise their exam performance and reduce exam strength. That part is a decision for the SQA board, and it is actively reviewing the quantitative data, such as national teacher and pupil absence levels, as well as the quality of evidence from partners, including the national qualifications 2020 group. That stakeholder engagement is integral. Scenario 3 would take place if exams had to be cancelled for public health reasons. I am happy to bring in Mr Kerr. When will a decision be made about the implementation of those resources? This is managerial rhetoric that we are getting from the cabinet secretary. What about the actual action? The action that is being taken by the SQA is the monitoring of the data. If the data determines that further issues need to be addressed by the national qualifications group, then they will do so. There is daily correspondence and discussion around the data, and if that data signifies that that requires us to move to scenario 2, then that is the decision that the SQA board can take at any time the data suggests that it requires to do so. For scenario 3, where the exams have to be cancelled for public health reasons, that would be a decision for me. In the event that that happens, qualifications would be awarded based on professional judgment of teachers and lecturers, using evidence from normal and near assessments that take place during the school year. As I have repeatedly set out since the beginning of this term, it is our firm intention for exams to take place, but it would be highly irresponsible to ignore the possibility, however exceptionally remote, that we hope it will be of the pandemic worsening. Therefore, we have a robust contingency should the public health conditions make exams impossible. Indeed, to answer the point that I think Meghan Gallagher did not know about the other nations, the devolved Administrations have prepared for the same eventuality, and indeed the Department for Education and Ofqual on 11 November confirmed contingency plans to support students in the unlikely event that exams in England cannot go ahead. We are planning for contingencies across the United Kingdom. When this approach was announced in August, Larry Flanagan from the EIS said that it was essential and appropriate that we had robust contingencies in place. That is the point that Ross Greer made correctly in his intervention. What the Tories are proposing is that, even if there is a future new variant or a turn-off event in the pandemic that leads public health experts to advice against public gatherings, the Scottish Conservatives would bring children and teachers into school, regardless of the consequences of the action. It is the type of irresponsibility and political posturing to do so. On that basis, we will continue to have contingencies in place to provide certainty for school children, and I move the amendment in my name. I now call on Michael Marra to speak to and move amendment 2839.2, up to five minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I am happy to be leading this timely debate for Labour and to move the amendment in my name. Those remain incredibly challenging times in our schools, and the disruption of the past years has truly unprecedented since the advent of universal education in this country. All of our education staff deserve our thanks. An already difficult job is made worse by having to deal with the dithering and delay that has become a hallmark of SNP education policy over many years. We are now in late January, and the situation surrounding exams and assessment remains far from clear. Senior education officials at the education committee this very morning were seeking urgent clarity over the planning scenarios for assessment, commenting that it is far better for schools to know what mitigations and support may be open to them. If the cabinet secretary refuses to answer questions on that in the chamber and will not listen to members, I would really urge her to heed those calls from senior education professionals across Scotland. His equity in education is not a mere subjective value. It is not fluffy or nice to have. It is the objective basis on which a national system of qualifications is founded. Grades must be comparable if they are to act as a passport's employment into the next steps of education. That national system has been vital to social progress in Scotland, both material and cultural, for women, for Catholics, for Black and minority ethnic Scots. A piece of paper that says, I am as able as any other, and your prejudice is that alone. The whole process gives validity to the very idea of social progress, even if the reality has become far less likely over the last decade and a half. We know that the experience of the pandemic has been unequal across different areas and demographics. More work is urgently needed to assess for whom and how the impact has been greatest. On an individual level, we know that there are young people who have lost far more time in school than others through no fault of their own. The next steps that are taken must redress the safety gap. So the Government should urgently produce a plan to ensure that young people are supported, including specific provision for those who need most support. Are education staff are working tirelessly in unprecedented circumstances to this end that they need all the help that we can muster? Further, and as the barest of minimums, the Government must immediately publish an appeals process, inclusive of a no detriment policy so that young people with exceptional circumstances can achieve redress the Government failed to act before grades are assessed. The Children's Commissioner has made clear that the Government's failure in this area not once but twice was a breach of the children's rights that this Government claims to respect. Those without standing appeals from 2020 were at a stroke of the Cabinet Secretary's pen told that they will not have any route of appeal. We are, of course, well past the point of cumulative lost education that forced the cancellation of last year's exam diet. It stands to the reason that, without taking those steps now, the Government will fall below their own very low bar for action. A senior teacher contacted me this very afternoon to express concern at the huge loss of learning faced by his pupils. He said, I feel sorry for so many kids who are going to be treated like everyone else when they are not the same. The Government has backed themselves into a corner on the exam diet. We do now all need those exams to go ahead because there is no real alternative. Teachers unions are very clear that there is no real plan B. We all want to see the decline in cases continue, but I am daily concerned that a surfeit of confidence may mean the necessary preparations for new variants or a rapid deterioration in the situation will be neglected. Let us hope that circumstances do permit a full exam diet, but action must be taken now to ensure that it is a fair one. I hope that the chamber will back Labour's amendment. I now call on Willie Rennie up to four minutes, please. Thank you, Presiding Officer. We do not often get a chance to debate education in this chamber, despite it apparently having five years ago been a top priority for the Scottish Government. I am going to broaden out my remarks beyond the exams. I am going to cover that, but I want to cover the major issues because we are at a crossroads for Scottish education. I do feel sorry for Shirley-Anne Somerville. She has been landed with a job which her four predecessors flunked over the last 15 years. The international performance on education is on the slide. The most recent piece of study found Scotland received its worst ever scores in maths and science. It is worse than Hungary, Slovakia and on some measures, Poland and Turkey. And heaven for friend, it is even worse than England. Whilst the SNP's international performance has been falling, the poverty-related attainment gap has grown. That is not quite true. It has narrowed marginally, but at the current rate of progress, it will take decades to close. Closing it is the objective set by the First Minister. Just narrowing it at this rate will let down thousands of pupils for decades. The SNP's response to this international decline was to scrap the survey of literacy and numeracy. It replaced it with an already discredited national census-based SNSA testing system, including unbelievably and they are still in place for five-year-olds. They did not like the international comparisons, so the SNP also withdrew the tins and the pearls international studies. Even Russia and Iran take part in those studies. Who would have thought that Scotland would be more secretive than Iran and Russia? That is a short debate, but let me offer some positive proposals at an important crossroads for Scottish education. The education secondary should improve the role of knowledge in the curriculum, especially for the broad general education. We should give teachers more support with materials created by expert teachers and bring back principal teachers. We must reverse the dramatic decline in education support plans for pupils with additional support needs. We need to put teachers back in charge of the bodies replacing the SQA and Education Scotland. So we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. We need to reverse the growth in temporary teachers by making more teachers permanent, by making the funding permanent. We need to rejoin tins and pearls, scrap the SNSAs, reintroduce a beefed-up SSLN so that we can measure both locally and internationally without a system that teaches to the test. We must give pupils greater confidence and clarity that exams are on this year. As we heard at the education committee this morning, the dithering and it is dithering on whether we should have scenario 2 in place. We should have that in place right now so that pupils can have greater certainty. All of the... No, I'm sorry, I'm not going to think. All of those are constructive, positive proposals. But the truth is, the SNP has been belligerent for years on education. They were far too slow to expand early education, especially for two-year-olds and failed to accept that the pupil premium was necessary just because they were ideas that originated in England. They would just not listen for years on end until the growing poverty-related attainment gap forced them to act. They put the worst of Scottish nationalism ahead of Scottish education and it was the pupils that are paying the price today. My fear is that the new education secretary does not have the political backing to address the deep-rooted problems in Scottish education. It appears that she has been sent by the First Minister to manage rather than lead. No longer do we hear the education being the top priority of the First Minister. That should worry us all, including the education secretary. Thank you. We now move to the open debate. I call Cocab Stewart to be followed by Pam Gossel. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can I just start by saying out loud what many people are thinking when I look at the text of this motion? It's short, it's curt and it's shrill. It woefully oversimplifies what has been already a challenging time over the last two years. I would like to put on record my thanks to all those across all education sectors who have frankly knocked their pan in rapidly upskilled and adapted alongside the changing Covid context. This motion is frankly lazy. This motion sums up the Tory attitude to Scotland, to devolution and frankly to our education system as well. Trying to grab the headlines with negative sound bites that pay no regard to the hard-working professionals and parents and pupils. Is this the total sum of Scottish Tory thinking on education to go negative rather than come up with actual solutions? I will not give way. I will have my say at the moment. I'll come back if I have time. We are not in the clear yet of a huge public health challenge to humanity and across the globe. It has disrupted every country, every person and every aspect of our lives. As someone who has worked through the lockdown at the chalkface, so to speak, I know exactly what the impact on children and families and teachers has been. It has taken its toll, but to turn this into a political football for partisan gain is appalling. But let's face it. We should not be too surprised the last time the Tories controlled Scottish education, and their big idea was to saddlehead teachers with budget management. Here is your allocation. No training in financial management, but do not blame us if you cannot get what you need. It was a blatant attempt to undermine local government and an ill-thought-out attempt to bring about the commercial market ideology into Scottish schools. I do not know if Megan Gallacher thinks that by attacking the First Minister personally this is a great tactic. We are watching the worst Prime Minister disembol, lie, and bring his public office into such disrepute that now even ASE 12 have come in on the act. The Scottish Government has provided significant investment that is making a world of difference. More teachers, the lowest teacher pupil ratios says 2009. Practical support for all, such as free school meals or digital devices and that investment is delivering results. 94 per cent of head teachers felt that they had the autonomy to develop the PEF funding plans that responded to their local needs. I will give way, Megan. It's your debate. Megan Gallacher. Thank you for giving way. The Scottish Government budget is actually to cut the PEF funding, so I would just like to hear COCAB's response to that because surely in order to tackle the attainment gap, teachers need adequate PEF in order to get it to the pupils who need it. COCAB's Stewart. As Megan will be aware, that PEF funding has been sort of like re-aligned to make sure that local authorities can respond to their local needs. We know that the challenges of poverty are not located in one place or the other. There are many variables there. 95 per cent of head teachers felt that Covid-19 and school building closures had at least some impact on their progress in closing the poverty-related attainment gap, and that challenge is faced by countries across the world. Yet in the months that I've been elected, I've never heard a single Tory's suggestion of how that could be improved upon. If there's one thing that has happened as an unintended consequence of the Covid pandemic, and it's the opening up of a debate on whether school exams are the best assessment for our young people, the pandemic has given us an opportunity to reflect on and assess how we best measure the academic and wider achievement of our young people from all backgrounds. I beg your pardon. Unlike the Tories, I am not prepared to turn the clock back to some kind of social conservatism marking back to the good old days when 30 people were meant to know their place. If I could actually to conclude, thank you. Just a reminder to address all members using their surnames too. I call Pam Gossel to be followed by Bob Dorris. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would firstly like to express my support for the motion put forward by my colleague Megan Gallacher. In my region, the west of Scotland, there are two high schools. Minutes apart, the first ranks sixth in the league tables, and the other ranks 230th. It will not come as a shock that more than double the percentage of pupils are attaining five higher passes at the former than the latter. Those statistics are mimicked across Scotland. Throughout the majority of a child's learning journey, the odds are distinctly in favour of those from the least deprived areas. And yet, despite our objections, the Scottish Government has pushed forward with its cuts to the attainment challenge areas. Without having addressed the key problem, which is that one, that one child's story future will be drastically different from another's due to the postcode lottery. The last two years have been chaotic, and that was despite several months' notice of the cancellation of exams. It remains a miss on how this year could go any smoother with just a few weeks' notice. It shows a complete disregard for pupils, mental health and, in fact, their futures. The Scottish Government must announce their final decision immediately so that extra revision resources can be made available, and the necessary health measures can be put into place. The SNP continued to blame their bad track record on the pandemic. The cabinet secretary today was very quick to remind my colleague Megan Galker that we are going through a pandemic. Let me now remind the cabinet secretary higher pass rates declined four years in a row prior to the pandemic. The SNP lowered the standard required to be deemed literate or numerate. And our education system has continged to plummet in international rankings. So I am not sure what the member there was talking about Cwcab Stewart when she was talking about international rankings. Let me remind you as plummeting recording its lowest performance yet on the PISA rankings. Presiding officer, if I don't have enough time, I'd like to finish. Presiding officer, if education and reducing disruption to the very truly of priority of Nicola Sturgeon's Government would listen to the NASUWT union recommending that exams go ahead and that schools would benefit from extra funding to cover the virus-related staff absences. Last year, the OECD report on the education system in Scotland highlighted that an important step moving forward in realigning early stages of the education system to ensure more consistency. I truly fear that without undergoing any sort of formal examination pupils will feel unprepared for the mode of assessment that they are likely to undertake should they progress to further and higher education. That is evident in the growing positive destination gaps. In conclusion— I'm just concluding, sorry— in conclusion, Presiding Officer, Scotland's children, our children, deserve an education system that is not content with meeting baseline targets that strives to meet world-beating competitive and, with the most of all, inclusive. Since I got elected last year, I have consistently repeated in this chamber 14 years of SNP failings. And now I stand here saying 15 years of SNP failings on our children. I sincerely hope and I am not standing here next year asking the same questions. Thank you. I call Bob Doris to be followed by Claire Baker. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The Conservatives contend that the Scottish Government has not prioritised education. And of course, that assertion does not stand up to any scrutiny. Scotland is the highest spending in schools per pupil of any UK nation. Teacher numbers are currently the highest they have been for 14 years. And the Scottish Government will fund 3,500 additional teachers and 500 support staff over this parliamentary term. That is over and above the 1,400 teachers recruited during the pandemic. And indeed, in today's education committee, we are rightly scrutinising how the new baseline funding for teachers and support staff will lead to permanent as opposed to temporary contracts. Now, there may be different opinion regarding the policies, approaches and levels of success within Scottish education, including closing the poverty-related attainment gap, but to suggest that the Scottish Government, which is also going to further £1 billion for Scotland's attainment challenge on top of the £750 million already invested, has not prioritised education, is dimensionally wrong, it's simply wrong. Of course, the Scottish Government has not only prioritised education, but also sought to prioritise various other factors which are crucial in tackling the poverty-related attainment gap. The draft Scottish budget includes £197 million to double the game-changing Scottish child payment from April this year and extend it to under 16s by the end of 2022, helping to live in as we did 40,000 children out of poverty. Presiding officer, contrast that with the impact of the cruel UK Government decision to remove £20 a week from universal credit. What impact do the Conservatives think that taking scarce funds from low-income families will have to supporting children and families on their ability to learn and education? It makes no sense. On best that, grants and foods on access to digital devices and school trips and school uniforms on free school meals, there's a strong base on which to continue to build on our efforts to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap. Both clearly progress has been made to close the attainment gap pre-Covid, we clearly had to go faster and more had to be done. A review of progress of the attainment challenge last year demonstrated that nine in 10 head teachers believed that resources had made a difference in setting about addressing that poverty-related attainment gap. I sit on the education committee with colleagues and we want to better understand how incomes and progress is measured, both given its national priority and the sheer volume of cash, £1.75 billion will be invested on the attainment challenge by the end of this parliamentary session. We also need to ensure that Scotland's system of accreditation for learning within schools currently underpinned by a top-heavy sweth of ex-exams the last two years aside, of course, can better recognise the skills, efforts, talents and the abilities of young people, particularly those from our most deprived communities. That also has a crucial role to play in addressing Scotland's poverty-related attainment gap. Our committee and Parliament as a whole must scrutinise reforms which are ultimately presented carefully but there is most definitely a real opportunity to better recognise the ability of students. Can I also note that the conservative motion demands that the 2022 exam diet must go ahead and full? No ifs, no puts, to go ahead no matter what. Actually, in the quote read out by Megan Gallacher to support the Tory position, Mr Wyatt quite sensibly put in a caveat that public health reasons could still impact on exams. That's also the Scottish Government position. I understand that it's also the position in England. Tory Retrict of Scotland is simply embarrassing, Presiding Officer. One final matter, Presiding Officer, very briefly, today the education committee did hear evidence that scenario 2 with regard to contingency planning in exams needs to be considered in short order. And I'm sure that that is something that the Scottish Government will want to consider. That in my speech today I support the Scottish Government amendment and I ask its members to reject the Labour and Conservative motion and the Labour amendment this afternoon. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Doris. I call Claire Baker to be followed by Ross Greer. Thank you, Presiding Officer. We all know the pandemic has been significant impact on education and the past two years our learners, our teachers and other staff have all experienced significant disruption to education. This school year has continued to see learning being interrupted with infection and isolation requirements meaning many pupils have been enabled to attend school. Whole classes have been asked to work remotely and uncertainty for pupils and teachers over the exam diet. The Scottish Government continues to state that education is a priority and while working to keep schools open is vital and is crucial at this point in time there are broader issues I wish to highlight. We know the pandemic has affected children from the most deprived areas the most and the already unacceptably large poverty related attainment gap has increased. In 2020 I called on the Scottish Government to commit to an equality audit when pupils returned to school. Even at that point we were seeing significant differences in engagement and educational experiences. The audit found particularly negative impacts for those transitioning from primary to secondary school and those in early primary as well as higher numbers of pupils from less advantaged backgrounds showing a regression in literacy and numeracy. It also showed the impact of the pandemic on the mental and physical health and wellbeing of children and young people. The Scottish Government has a responsibility to address these findings. It was a very high level document that was initially published and it has been unclear to me how the problems that are identified are being significantly addressed. Or we risk here creating additional gaps in learning which will create further disadvantage. Those pupils most negatively impacted are those affected by poverty and we need to see immediate steps to support them in education and to address underlying causes. So across the country the picture continues to be mixed as self-isolation of pupils and teachers continues to disrupt. Teaching staff who have worked throughout this pandemic not without risk to their own health are already under huge pressure amid staff shortages and are facing additional workload and have been expected to prepare for all eventualities. And certainty around exams and the future of the SQA is only exacerbating the situation. I do understand the desire for certainty expressed by some this afternoon but we also need to be realistic about the situation we are facing. Can I ask the Scottish Government if any assessment has been made of the areas in the schools that have been and are being most impacted by Covid? I know in my own region that there are some schools that have had greater absences and closures than others and we need to ensure they receive increased support where it is needed. We know that those pupils at key points in their schooling feel the impacts of pandemic more keenly. For pupils sitting exams there have been huge challenges. The same goes for those transitioning from primary to secondary and for those starting primary school. We have children now partway through primary 2 whose only experience of school has been through a pandemic. They've been unable to mix across classes. They've only recently been able to lunch in dinner halls. The activities and school concerts have been cancelled or performed to a camera. The social experiences those children have been missing out on should not be overlooked and the potential longer term impacts must be addressed. For parents and guardians of children due to start their primary schooling the pandemic has impacted here too. At a point in history where starting school is potentially more difficult for a child we should be doing all we can to support families who choose to defer entry in the interest of their child. I have long supported to give them time campaign and its calls for funded nursery provision for all families choosing to defer the start of primary school. I welcomed the recent inclusion of Fife, Stirling and Clackmannanshire councils in my region in the pilot areas for the additional year of funding. But I would call on the Scottish Government to bring forward the full implementation and support all local authorities to deliver it as soon as possible. We can't have families waiting because of where they live and the pandemic surely argues add to the argument for the policy change. So from early years to university where we have seen the impacts of education over the past two years we must ensure that we are both assessing and acting on that. Pre-pandemic, there were huge challenges in education and those have only been exacerbated. The Scottish Government needs to do all it can and needs to do more to ensure that this generation of learners does not continue to be disadvantaged. Thank you. I call Ross Greer to be followed by Jamie Greene. I fully expected this afternoon's other Conservative debate to be the most crying of the week where we had to listen to the party that has cut Scotland's budget and demand that we somehow spend more money that we don't have. But that motion blows that out of the water and how frankly disingenuous, dangerous and incoherent it is. The Scottish Government has made clear over and over again for months that the only circumstance under which exams won't go ahead this year is if the public health situation makes that impossible. But that somehow isn't good enough for the Conservatives. They want a cast iron guarantee that exams will go ahead. So the only way that Megan Gallagher's motion makes any sense at all is if the Tories want a guarantee that exams will go ahead even if public health officials say that it is not safe to do so. If that's not what they're saying, then why are we here? If they agree that the outbreak of a dangerous new strain, for example, could conceivably make exams unsafe, then they agree with the Scottish Government's existing position. Taking their motion and public statements to their logical conclusion leads me to the same one that I've come to a number of times during this pandemic. The Scottish Conservatives have a willful disregard for the health and safety of teachers, support staff and school pupils if they think that they can get some headlines out of it. I'll gratefully take an intervention for the member. If she can please clarify to me, do the Conservatives concede that there's a situation under which it may be too dangerous for exams to take place this year? Megan Gallagher. Thank you for giving wayne. Just quickly when I was making my contribution, I said that I agreed with Daniel Watt who said that if there was a significant health concern, then that would be a reason for the exams not to go ahead. But however, do you not agree with the Scottish Conservative position that leaving it until March is far too late to make any decisions on exams? That's why we are seeking clarity today. Ross Greer. I really hope that that doesn't come in his news to the member, but the Scottish Government can't speak on behalf of Covid. The Scottish Government can't predict what variants will emerge in March or April or in May. They have, at least in bringing this debate, given other colleagues the opportunity to make more reasoned contributions and to better understand other elements of this year's national qualifications diet beyond the exams themselves. Both the education secretary and the First Minister have repeatedly stated that if there is significant disruption in this school year, additional support will be made available for those undertaken national qualifications. Both have also acknowledged in recent weeks that disruption has happened. So I'm grateful to the cabinet secretary for outlining the process for activating further support, but I would associate myself with the remarks made by colleagues, particularly Michael Marra's remarks about the impact of delaying those decisions and Willie Rennie's remarks in that regard as well. The appeal system has been a point of acute failure in recent years and I'm glad that Mr Marra brought it up. Though for all its failings, some improvements were made last year which I hope will be maintained, most obviously the removal of any associated charge in making appeals. So making those universally free to access and ending the scandal of the old quasi-appeal system which was disproportionately used by private schools who had the financial means to do so would be an improvement. The SQA has consistently failed to take a rights-based and UNCRC-compliant approach to their work. That cannot be repeated with any additional measures brought in to reflect this year's disruption. There is one other request that I would make of the cabinet secretary in relation to any forthcoming announcement about additional measures ahead of this year's exams. Thousands of college students are due to take NQ exams this year having been impacted by far greater levels of disruption and having had far less access to in-person learning than school pupils. That was on the basis of public health restrictions that I still absolutely believe to have been the right call. However, if we are to acknowledge that grading students as if this was a normal year would be unjust, the impact on college students in particular should factor into whatever decisions are made in regard to additional support and I would make that same point to the board of the SQA as well. To briefly touch on the rest of the motion before closing, it is hard to seriously take conservative criticism of the slow rate of progress in closing the attainment gap when they are the very party taking £20 a week away from the most vulnerable people in this country at the same time as the two parties of this Government are putting £20 a week back into the pockets of the most vulnerable families across Scotland. We will not close a poverty-related attainment gap without tackling poverty at source. This Government is trying to do that. Maybe the Conservatives would like to try helping in that endeavour instead of criticising our efforts to undo the damage they are so well forecausing. Thank you. I call Jamie Greene I call Jamie Greene to be followed by Claire Adamson. I am a party's former spokesperson on education. I really do understand how challenging the last 18 months have been for everyone in education. But I also know that today I can hear history repeating itself because our education sector met endless U-turns, endless lack of advice, lack of support, lack of clarity, time after time with such resilience and patience. We should be thankful. But the Government's position today is utterly bizarre because the rosy picture that they are painting bears no resemblance to the reality of what many staff and pupils have actually faced over the last 18 months. Their amendment makes some bizarre and bold claims, for example, it's rehashing of the Scottish attainment challenge funding. Now that's a policy that was launched back in 2015. It's not news to us today. What about their self congratulatory back patting over closing the attainment gap that they're referred to? Well, that's just bizarre because we know that progress was not being made long before the pandemic and I'll come on to that in a second. And worse, and it is worse, is the woolly commitment to this year's exam diet going ahead because they use the words only if it is safe to do so. Well Cabinet Secretary, what does that actually mean? Don't tell us, tell the teachers, tell the young people themselves because nobody actually knows and I'm happy to give way. Cabinet Secretary, when it is safe to do so means that public health guidance has not given us advice that gatherings shouldn't go ahead. So when it is safe to do so is when public health guidance says it is. I'm not sure how much clearer we can be around when it is safe to do so is. It's about public health guidance. Jamie Greene Explain to us why in a few short weeks there'll be 67,000 people at Murrayfield stadium watching the rugby but we can't get 100 people in a sports hall sitting in an exam in a well ventilated room. Explain that to young people because it makes absolutely no conceivable sense and the logic behind the argument makes no sense either. Why is the First Minister relaxing restrictions on Covid week after week which we support and we called for yet we cannot make a firm commitment around exams? Let's look at the barriers to exams. Let's address them one by one. What is the problem? Is it place? Right? Is the school of state ventilated enough? If not, it should have been more than a year ago. That's what the EIS demanded. It's what teachers asked for and it's what opposition members asked for. Is it people? Is there a worry that there are not enough invigilators? What have you done? Where was this mass recruitment exercise? Where are the hundreds of retired teachers or newly qualified teachers that we called for when we asked for? Where was the effort for the plan A, the plan B and God forbid, the plan C as well? None of that preparation was put into place and there's been 18 months of warning that this could have happened again this year. No preparation, no plan and I'm afraid the outcome may be dire again for young people. How can you set up criminal courts and cinemas but you can't find somewhere to hold an exam for 100 people? It makes absolutely no sense, cabinet secretary. Here's my biggest worry though in today's debate is it preparation not place for people which is the government's true concern? Is there a genuine worry that these young people simply are not ready to set exams? Because I have a genuine concern that there's a whole cohort of young people in Scotland that will be going on to further in higher education who have never sat an exam in exam-like conditions and that should worry each and every one of us who have an interest in education just as it used to worry the Green Party who now sit here bereft of criticism of the front bench now that they're in government with it but used to cross the benches and worked with us on defeating and pressurising the government when Johnny Swinney was dragged to this chamber to apologise and make amends for the utter shambles that was the 2020 SQA exam diet. You've had your say, Mr Greer and I'm afraid and I say it with no pleasure that you will not stand up to the front bench on this issue because it's about time that somebody did. In closing, I just want to say the one thing that I said the last time we proudly brought the issue of education to this chamber. Where there is a will there is a way, Presiding Officer. I see plenty of ways but listening to the front bench today and the glib contributions from their back benches there's very, very little will. Thank you Mr Greer. I call Claire Adamson who will be the final speaker in the open debate. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The Conservative members sitting in this chamber are often keen to describe their perceived benefits of the UK as being the broad shoulders of the union. Well, Presiding Officers, I've always found those shoulders a tad sloppy and today we don't just have sloppy shoulders but brass necks from the Conservative benches. Ms Gallagher's motion can't even give the full tisle to the subject of the debate. It's the poverty related attainment gas. Poverty inflicted largely by the punitive practice of the UK Government which introduced the two child cap on benefits is cutting the universal credit payments by £20 a week. At a time when living costs are soaring and why are they soaring? Failure to manage the energy market in the UK. Brexit costs being passed on to consumers. Brexit costs for Scotland did not vote for. Increased costs at the pumps. Increased costs for food trolleys. At least let's have a discussion that is honest about the causes of poverty where the blame lies. Absolutely, Mr Kerr. I'm glad that the member is giving way on honesty. Here's what the Deputy First Minister said in March when he was out courting for votes. He promised every child in Scotland a device. He promised him a free device. He promised him free connection. Where is that? That's a brass neck. To say that to get votes and then to fail to deliver. Clare Adamson. Obviously not aware of what's happening in schools right now and where the support is coming for families that need digital advice because I know where to go to get it for families in my area. Maybe he needs to investigate how to do that himself. The Labour benches as well have, I have to commend Clare Baker for being very constructive in her comments today. But I wish we also had power over employment law here because the other real problem facing families is zero-hours contracts and precarious employment. That's been left in the hands of the shambles that is a Tory party Government in Westminster. And so what is the Scottish Government doing to change challenge poverty in our education system? Education maintenance allowance scrapped in England continues in Scotland allowing young people from the most financially challenged backgrounds to support their continued involvement in education at schools, in our colleges or at our universities through £30 a week payment. We'll get record funding over £250 million for attainment Scotland fund. Over 167,000 pupils in primaries 1 to 3 now benefit from free school meals has been rolled out further. That's a saving of £400 a year per child for families. The Scottish Government have achieved the commission and widening access target to 16 per cent of full-time first-degree entrance to university coming from the 20 per cent most deprived areas in Scotland. And it's increased the national minimum school clothing grant, £120 for primary school pupils and £150 for secondary school pupils. And so, thankfully, the rhetoric from opposition bearers is not borne out by the facts. We have continued to achieve better outcomes, better living statistics for pupils in Scotland. We have more pupils going on to further and higher education. We have record numbers of people in modern apprenticeships, graduate apprenticeships and foundation apprenticeships. Those are all very positive for our young people. Presiding Officer, last year I was a convener when the alternative assessment model was brought in and at work and businesses and colleges and universities recognised the qualifications of one people. So what message has been sent out today? Well, I want to send a message to pupils that their efforts and the efforts of their dedicated professional teachers across Scotland will allow them to move on into positive destinations and we should be supporting them, not casting shade on robust their processes. And if the choice is not of contingency means or what the difference between open air and in air events it is then that need to go back to school. We now move to closing speeches and I call on Martin Whitfield up to four minutes please. I'm very grateful Presiding Officer and it is a pleasure to close for Labour in this debate and certainly to extend my support to the amendment to my colleague Michael Marra's name. Presiding Officer, you know the most effective tool we truly have to improve the future, to advance our country, to help our communities is education. To have an environment to allow our young people to think critically, to imagine, to dream, to even possibly come up to with the solutions of the problems for today and hopefully implement them tomorrow. It has been a fractious debate this but there have been some very interesting contributions from a significant number of people and I would like to highlight Willie Rennie's contribution when he talked about the crossroads that we are at. I deeply hope it is crossroads and not a cul-de-sac that we are in with education and it is for this Government and for this Parliament to make sure that it is a crossroads going forward. And I'd like to make comment about Pam Goswell's contribution where she rightly talked of the inequality and the poverty induced attainment gap that we have and this is a frightening truth day to day for our young people and for their families and there is an inequality across Scotland. We have some children who have missed substantial parts of school. As a result of Covid we've had some children who have struggled to re-engage with school. Because of Covid and because of their background we have some children who are frankly disillusioned with school and there is an inequality of experience and one of the challenges that we find in this debate today and I want to move to concentrate on the question of appeals is the experience individual pupils have had going forward. If we look back to the years previous where experience should have been learnt about the appeals situation we are frankly not in a very good place here in Scotland. If we go back to the first year of Covid where a number of appeals with the stroke of a pen were written off by the Cabinet Secretary their individual children whose future has been changed changed by a flick of a pen an aspect to which the human rights commissioner and I think everyone looks at with a deep deep sadness that was against those individual children's human rights but because we don't have a UNCRC Bill as a statute in this country there is nothing they can do. The experience last year was little better there were children whose personal circumstances couldn't form the grounds of their appeal be it the death of a parent be it their own experience of Covid and indeed suffering long Covid they couldn't have the opportunity to say my experience was horrendous please can you do something about it and then there is this year who don't even know what the grounds of their appeal are and I welcome Ross Greer's comments about the appeal situation because notwithstanding where you sit on the argument about whether exams absolutely will happen exams absolutely won't happen we have heard from across this chamber and in particular Cabinet Secretary from yourself about the work that has been put in should there be additional disruption can we see and hear of the work about what the journey of appeal will look like for children this year I hope it is free it always should have been I hope that it will take the individual's experiences of the exam situation or the assessment model that's laid in front of them I hope they can appeal on their own individual experience of that and I hope and I deeply hope that additional resources can be put forward so that our incredibly hard working teachers and support staff in school can when those children come into school give them the additional time as we sit here stand here debating to conclude please debating our young pupils in some year groups are already starting their preliminary exams they are doing so not knowing what the journey ahead rests for them please can we see a road map for appeals thank you Presiding Officer thank you I call on Shirley-Anne Somerville up to five minutes Cabinet Secretary thank you very much Presiding Officer so I think we've got to the points during the debate where we now know that the Tories do accept there are reasons why exams might not be able to take place and that's the public health guidance says that it shouldn't so it would appear that we are now at the part that the Scottish Government is getting blamed for not having a crystal ball on what the guidance and the public health advice will be from April to June so as a Government we will continue to take decisions as soon as we can with the data and the advice that we have at that time that is the best we can do and I think to be honest it is as much as the public should expect from a Government is that we deal with the information that we have rather than assuming what might happen four months from now Megan Gallacher I thank the cabinet secretary for giving way does the cabinet secretary accept that if we have to wait until March to find out what the Government's strategy is for exams that is only weeks before the first exam is yet to take place this will put teachers and pupils under severe stress and anxiety cabinet secretary with the greatest respect again to Megan Gallacher we will move as quickly as possible if the public health guidance changed I can't tell what the public health guidance is going to be near the exam time what we do know and what teachers and everyone in the system is planning for is that exams are the absolute determination that they will take place the only thing that will change that is public health guidance now that is a remote possibility that will happen but it would be highly irresponsible to not have that contingency there as other countries do we've had some more thoughtful contributions I think during this debate Claire Baker's in particular which I thank her for and I will take on his word Willie Rennie's positive contribution to me and his suggestions some who knows I might take up others I will respectfully continue to disagree on but Pam Goswell I'm afraid did once again get us into this chap that the Scottish Conservatives have around describing the last year's qualifications as chaotic 137,000 candidates received their formal results we had more passes at higher level since the advent of devolution as Claire Adamson pointed out the qualifications were welcomed by universities, colleges and employers to be credible in a very very difficult circumstance that's the reality of what happened last year Ross Greer quite rightly points out to the need to make quick decisions on this point particularly around scenario B others have mentioned this as well and I would reiterate the point that we are looking at numbers on a daily basis the SQA have that close contingency arrangement with the Government around that and they are working very very closely with stakeholders on that they will take a decision as soon as they feel that that point is required to be reached for that if Daniel Johnson will forgive me I want to make a little bit more progress to deal with a point which Ross Greer and Martin Whitfield discussed around appeals and exceptional circumstances we are expecting an announcement on that soon I do appreciate that many people are looking to that to happen one of the reasons why this time has been taken is to ensure that we are having the right type of consultation with the national qualifications 22 group around what that process should look like and what should be contained within that and that's an absolute determination that we have around the right type of stakeholder engagement but I would confirm that there's no cost and the system will be much more comprehensive than in the rest of the UK we've not had time Presiding Officer this afternoon to discuss the type of support that is already in place for students in this time of disruption as we are seeing some very small number of partial school closures and an even smaller number thankfully of full school closures but there is support that's already on offer through the national e-learning offer that's available to every learner from age 3 to 18 we've got the west online school videos to support the senior phase and through the youth of e-school supported study webinars and resources there is a great deal that can support students through the very challenging times that we know that they are under but one of the aspects which I have to say has genuinely baffled me as we've had these discussions today is around Megan Gallacher's assumption that we should learn lessons from England that we should learn from what's happening down south and I would with the greater respect to Megan Gallacher say today is definitely not the day to espouse that we're having lessons being given by a Tory Government that is scrapping rules to save a Prime Minister's skin that is highly irresponsible Please conclude cabinet secretary please conclude more interested in his own political survival than what is right we will continue in this Government to do what is right in the right way as quickly as we can to support our learners what a shame we've had such an irresponsible motion from the Scottish Conservatives but not surprising I call on Sharon Dowie to wind up up to six minutes please Thank you Presiding Officer The Scottish Conservatives have come here today with one very simple ask that Scottish pupils are treated with respect Throughout the experience of the last two years our young people have not been able to enjoy that right instead shunted from classroom to home and back to classroom with little consideration of the effect any of this was having on their mental health the attainment gap are more importantly as some we argue their grades as with so many aspects of Covid clarity is what we need right now clarity around exams clarity on face masks in schools clarity on the attainment gap and clarity around the three laptops for every child that never arrived but the truth is that clarity is one of the many things the Scottish Government have failed to provide I don't have long today but it's obvious to anyone that this confusion is having a detrimental effect on our children's wellbeing you only had to listen to today's education committee to hear first hand from the experts about the impact this confusion is having on an education system that was once the envy of the world it's not just about exams though that the whole school experiencing that it's been affected Scottish students have lost out on many of the extracurricular school and social activities that play such an important role in their development all of us in this chamber will remember their own school sports day but for the past two years many Scottish children and their families have missed out on creating those special memories no prize giving for them no sports day nativity play or end of year show in a way these things can I make a wee bit progress please in a way these things are as important as exams and so I would ask the SNP to offer a guarantee today to commit that not only will the exam day be held this year but school plays and sports days will also go ahead it's a small ask but it would mean so much to so many pupils parents and teachers my colleague Megan Gallacher reminded us that the first minister asked to be judged on her education record and what a record that is too education is my top priority she said I want to be judged on this I think it's fair to say that the first minister has been judged and she's been found wanting Megan told us that the SNP's record on education is a tale of broken promises and failed reforms and she's right go to any school in Scotland and you'll find that sentiment echoed by parents at the school gates the international performance of our education system should not be ignored either as Pam Goswell noted while the results of the OECD reports may not matter much to the SNP educators overseas are paying close attention and coming to their own conclusions she also touched upon the attainment gap noting the lack of progress made here I've now lost count of the number of times I've heard SNP politicians tell us the gap is closing however the reality is that after seven years and a billion pounds the Scottish Government has made little headway closing the gap is I quote the first minister's sacred responsibility her defining mission if this is how she goes about her sacred task then I shudder to think what happens to the projects at the bottom of her entry finally Jamie Greene refreshed our memories about the chaos of last year's exams the fiasco that was the appeal system and the failure of this SNP Government to tackle inequality in education and all of this of course before we even get to the Scottish Government's humiliating climb down over P1 testing which they implemented anyway against the will of this Parliament a decision which two years on is still coming back to bite them touching on some of the contributions round about Shirley-Anne Somerville has said that contingencies are needed but we need to get contingencies to ensure that we do all we can to keep schools open and to make sure that the exams take place she said that it was her firm intention that they went ahead but we're looking for a commitment today so that the schools can plan ahead and make sure that they know that they're going ahead that will give clarity to teachers parents and pupils can I just ask I have listened many times to the assurances is the member still not assured that a commitment has been given that exams will go ahead unless the public health advice at that time goes against that the safety of our children is the most paramount thing surely the member agrees no I don't agree I think we should be told today at the committee today some of the comments were to release the anxiety that is out there we need a decision sooner rather than later so a decision that could take up to another three months isn't going to be any good so we need to get a decision just now so that the schools can plan ahead they're already planning to have exams but pupils need to take away the anxiety they need to know now that the exams are going to go ahead coming on to the next cacubes to her I think made a political football in her speech although she said that was us and she said that the SNP had made a world of difference to education but the results don't show that Michael Marra said about teachers working exceptionally hard to support pupils and I think we totally agree with that I thought his contribution was really good Claire Baker was excellent she basically brought in all the problems that they've got with regression and numeracy and literacy please conclude Ms Dilley thank you so Presiding Officer to conclude the chamber is in agreement today that exams could go ahead this year that pupils parents thank you Ms Dowie you are out of time but thank you very much indeed that concludes the debate on education failures and guaranteeing the 2022 exam diet