Meeting of the Parliament 12 January 2016
Listening to Stewart Stevenson’s speech, two things struck me. The first was the issue of children’s questions. I have two daughters and some of the questions that they have asked in the past few months have been particularly challenging, not so much in scientific areas but in other areas. I am sure that the cabinet secretary can relate to that.
The second thing that struck me concerned a trip that I made to Sweden a number of years ago to visit some friends. While I was there, I was asked to speak to two classes in a high school—it was informal learning in a formal setting. I was asked to go in because the kids, who were learning English, were used to only English or American accents, and the school wanted them to hear English spoken by someone with a different accent. It was a fascinating experience and I genuinely thought that it was a great thing to do.
I was encouraged by the recent OECD review of Scottish education. As others have mentioned, the report paints a largely positive picture of Scottish education and the on-going implementation of the curriculum for excellence.
We share the OECD’s view that we have a great opportunity to lead the world in developing an integrated assessment and evaluation framework. We firmly believe that the framework will play an important role in driving work to close the attainment gap and continually improve Scottish education. I am sure that everyone in the chamber wants to be able to say, with confidence and with evidence, that there is no better place in the world to be educated than here in Scotland. We want to know that that claim holds true for all young people, regardless of their background or circumstance. Scotland must seize the opportunity to be a world leader in assessing and driving forward educational progress for all children
It is no secret that the past eight years have been tough. The recession and the deep public spending cuts that followed have created pressures for the Scottish Government, for local government and for many families. However, the fact remains that education in Scotland has made progress.