Meeting of the Parliament 13 December 2023
I am grateful to the Conservatives for bringing this debate on Scottish education to the chamber. There have been a number of updates to Parliament in recent weeks. When we return following recess, there will be, subject to parliamentary approval, fuller time to debate proposals on qualifications reform.
As I stated yesterday, post-pandemic Scottish education is at a juncture. There is much to be positive about in Scottish education, but I recognise the need for improvement. In that spirit, I will engage with the debate and listen to any tangible solutions from the Opposition—or, indeed, my own party—to that end. As Mr Kerr said, this is bigger than party politics.
I spoke yesterday about this year’s impressive set of achievement of curriculum for excellence levels data, which is also known as ACEL. That is the most comprehensive and up-to-date national picture that we have of young people’s attainment in literacy and numeracy. The ACEL data shows that the proportions of primary school children achieving the expected CFE levels for literacy and numeracy are at record highs for children from both the most and the least disadvantaged areas of Scotland. The attainment gap in literacy in primary schools is the smallest on record, and the gap is also reducing in secondary schools. I again pay tribute to our young people and their teachers for achieving those results. It has been a difficult time for all of them since the pandemic, which makes the data all the more impressive.
Although I hope that everyone in the chamber can welcome that progress, I have seen some commentary questioning the ACEL data because it is predicated on teachers’ professional judgment. I whole-heartedly reject that view. I think that it is an insult to the teaching profession. Scotland’s teachers are skilled and trained professionals. The judgments that they make should be trusted, much in the same way that, every year, we trust our teachers to set, mark and agree the national standard in our final examination system.