Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame) SNP

The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-12358, in the name of Liz Smith, on education: subject choices.

Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

Few decisions are more important to any young person at school than those that they make about subject choices. What they decide defines their future career....

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

I call John Swinney to speak to and move amendment S5M-12358.4. 14:48

The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (John Swinney) SNP

I welcome this debate and I want to be as helpful as I can in discussing the substantive issues that Liz Smith raises. The reason for that is that this whole...

Liz Smith Con

If that is correct, there ought to be a good progression into S4. However, at the moment, pupils are doing a considerable number of subjects in breadth in S1...

John Swinney SNP

That brings me on to the other substantive point that I want to make. The focus on the breadth of learning throughout primary school and the first years of s...

Oliver Mundell (Dumfriesshire) (Con) Con

Will the cabinet secretary take an intervention?

John Swinney SNP

If Mr Mundell will forgive me, I will not take an intervention. I have quite a lot of ground to cover. That may well mean that learners take fewer subjects ...

Liz Smith Con

Is the cabinet secretary satisfied that those students in S4 are getting a fair deal when it comes to subject choice?

John Swinney SNP

That will be a judgment that is arrived at in individual schools on the basis of the curriculum model that they want to take forward, and that is the policy ...

Oliver Mundell Con

At a basic level, does the cabinet secretary accept that, if a pupil drops a subject because they are unable to take it in S4, they will be less likely to ta...

John Swinney SNP

Not necessarily, because young people will have established stronger foundations in a higher and more demanding broad general education than would have been ...

Jenny Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Will the cabinet secretary give way?

John Swinney SNP

I will have to make some more progress.

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

I can give you the time back, cabinet secretary.

John Swinney SNP

I give way to Jenny Marra.

Jenny Marra Lab

The cabinet secretary suggested that decisions about course choice are available on a school-by-school basis, but Dundee City Council’s curriculum guidelines...

John Swinney SNP

That gets us to the nub of the reform agenda that I am interested in taking forward. I am glad that Ms Marra is a supporter of that agenda. I believe that th...

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

Thank you very much. I have to say that I am running out of spare time, but I thought that it was important to allow interventions that were direct questions...

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer—

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

I have not said what you are doing yet. I call Iain Gray to speak to and move amendment S5M-12358.1—just in case you had forgotten, Mr Gray. 14:57

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Thank you, Presiding Officer. I had not forgotten, and I rise to move the amendment in my name. This is an important issue, but it is not a new one. The nar...

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

You must conclude with this sentence.

Iain Gray Lab

Parents feel that pupils from more affluent communities are being offered more choice and more chances, which can only exacerbate the attainment gap. It is n...

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

I am sorry: in these short debates, time is very tight. There will now be a tight four minutes for all speeches. 15:02

Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green) Green

The need to ensure that Scotland’s schools provide an inclusive learning environment that enables all young people to excel is an obvious point of consensus,...

The Deputy Presiding Officer SNP

I will rescue you there. It is time to sit down. 15:06

Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD

The debate that Liz Smith has brought is about subject choice. In some ways, I speak more as a father than I do as an MSP on the issue, because my oldest chi...

Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

First, I welcome Liz Smith’s remarks. She outlined in great detail why this debate is an important one. On these benches, we have sought answers from the Sc...

Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) SNP

I rise to speak somewhat dismayed at some of the arguments that are being used in the chamber this afternoon. I served on the Education and Culture Committee...