Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2015
As Liz Smith knows, the debate in some ways follows a members’ business debate five weeks ago in which a not dissimilar motion that Iain Gray lodged was discussed. That debate raised issues on science and schools that I am sure we will speak about today.
As Liz Smith mentioned, we can agree across the parties on many areas. However, I am sure that she will not be entirely surprised to hear that I disagree with some of the premises in her motion, which is why we will seek to amend it.
As our amendment makes clear, the Government agrees that all young people need a solid grounding in STEM education. That grounding starts in primary 1 and builds progressively through primary school. The science, technologies and maths experiences and outcomes of curriculum for excellence are making learning more exciting, relevant and fun for all pupils.
In secondary school, learning and teaching continue through the broad general education to the end of secondary 3. We know that, particularly at the secondary stages, STEM subject specialists are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subject areas.
All that grounding is ensuring not only that record numbers of young people are taking science, technologies and maths subjects, as has been mentioned, but that the education system is contributing to ensuring that we have a more scientifically literate population.