Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 December 2020
I want to start by acknowledging and thanking pupils, parents and carers, teachers and all school staff for their hard work, especially during the pandemic.
I note that it is just three weeks since many of the issues that we are considering today were last debated by the Parliament. Many people who work in Scottish education can feel their patience with the Scottish Government wearing thin. It has been a long and trying year, but it has felt all the longer and all the more trying because teachers, staff and pupils have been at the mercy of a Government that is paralysed by indecision.
Yesterday’s announcement followed the pattern that we are all now very familiar with: a decision being made on exams, but only after another damaging delay. While the Government has been slowly pondering, teachers, parents and pupils have been going through real and legitimate anxieties about their work and their futures. Cancelling exams was the right thing to do, and it was inevitable; it is clear from the evidence that pupils would not have had an equal shot at success if they had gone ahead.
Pupils who attend schools in Glasgow have had a very different experience from those in the Highlands ever since schools returned. It is difficult to see how there could ever have been a level playing field for highers and advanced highers. The Liberal Democrat education minister in Wales made the decision weeks ago, yet in Scotland the autumn term has almost passed, with pupils in level 4 areas having been asked to shield and learn from home while those elsewhere in the country attend as normal. Once again, it took political intervention by the Scottish Liberal Democrats and others for the Scottish Government to find its way to a conclusion.
These are difficult times and I do not underestimate the challenges that are involved in making such decisions, but there are real people at the other end of those announcements. The Educational Institute of Scotland reported unsustainable workloads for school management teams in September as they grappled with change after change while trying to give their pupils the best possible education, and it is safe to say that things have not improved since then.
I am seriously concerned about the health and wellbeing of those who are on the front line in Scottish schools, and I do not understand why the Scottish Government refuses to acknowledge the valid concerns that have been raised by vulnerable teachers. The education secretary lodged an amendment that would remove all reference to them.
The Scottish Government needs to take concrete action and make decisions in anticipation of problems that are coming down the line, not on reflection afterwards. Schools need to have the detail of the new exam model for highers and advanced highers in their inboxes by the time they return after Christmas. That means detail on how and when pupils should be assessed, how results might be moderated and what support will be offered to those who have already been impacted by the virus.
Vulnerable teachers need to be offered a safe place to work so that nobody is left feeling unsafe. Additional school staff need to be recruited and ready to deal with the new problems that will arise in the new year. The patchwork hiring that has been reported so far, with nine local authorities adding no new, additional support staff, is not good enough.
As Jamie Greene eloquently highlighted, issues such as free school meals need to stop being treated like political hot potatoes. There also needs to be an interim report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development so that people in Scotland have a chance to reflect fairly on the state of education ahead of the next election.
We will support the motion and Labour’s amendment, but not the Government amendment.