Meeting of the Parliament 25 February 2015
The figures that the minister quoted do not take account of the new curriculum moving through into higher and advanced higher levels.
If we do not have enough equipment, enough teachers and perhaps enough pupils and enough basic numeracy skills, where on earth will we get the extra engineers? We know that, unless we do something, they will not be girls or young people from our poorest families. According to the National Union of Students Scotland’s excellent briefing for the debate, 86 per cent of entrants to university engineering courses are still men and only 9.3 per cent of entrants come from the poorest fifth of our communities. Girls and young people from our poorest families are going to miss out on those opportunities of the future, and we are going to waste their potential.
The Government’s attainment fund is welcome, and we have welcomed it, but it is not enough. It is temporary and its targeting is flawed. That is why we want to add £125 million to that fund over the next session, which would be paid for by raising taxes on the most prosperous of our citizens. The funding would be targeted ruthlessly where it could make the most impact. That would mean that pupils in the city of Edinburgh, for example, would benefit rather than be ignored by the Government’s attainment fund.
As for girls, the NUS has made the excellent suggestion that research excellence grant funding should depend on action to address the gender gap. However, as Ms Smith said, the truth is that we must also inspire girls to take an early interest in science before gender stereotyping takes hold.