Meeting of the Parliament 29 October 2015
Does the member mind if I make a little bit of progress?
Members will know that, as part of the programme for government, we published a draft national improvement framework for education to help drive improvement at local level and to help teachers, parents, schools, councils and Parliament better understand how things are progressing. I propose to lodge amendments at stage 2 to place the framework on a statutory footing and to require ministers and councils to work towards the priorities in the framework, which are improving attainment and closing the gap; improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing; and improving sustained school leaver destinations for young people. I also want to ensure that the bill provides for effective and transparent reporting arrangements covering both the framework and the inequalities of outcome duty. It is crucial that we can assess the progress being made, but that must be done in a coherent and proportionate way.
However, legislation is not, and cannot be, the only answer. The bill is just one of many areas of work that are under way to drive improvement and to help raise attainment. The Scottish attainment challenge, which is now providing additional funding and support to more than 300 schools and 21 local authorities, is at the forefront of that work. The decisions that are taken about how to use the resources that we have available to us will ultimately determine our success.