Hansard

I declare my membership of the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

I start by thanking our teachers and everyone who works in our schools for supporting our young people in formal education during these difficult times. We should recognise that staff and pupils are under great pressure and that pupils in poorer areas are affected more by absence rates. Many pupils have been off school and isolating several times, which will undoubtedly have an impact on their education alongside the pressures, worries and social impact of the pandemic having a detrimental effect on their mental health and wellbeing.

It is important that there is certainty about the exams in the current academic year and that, following the announcement of the cancellations yesterday, full details are published. Teachers need clarity on what is expected of them, and young people must be treated fairly and have their personal circumstances taken into account, to ensure that they get the results that they deserve this year.

In the previous education debate a few weeks ago, concerns were expressed about the safety of schools, transmission rates and the pressures on staff to go to work. It is difficult to comprehend that, due to concerns about transmission rates, we cannot socialise in our homes and we can only meet one other household outside, but a teacher can mix inside with 30 young people from 30 different households. Because of that, it is vital that all the safety measures and improvements that the Parliament voted for are implemented.

The announcement of routine asymptomatic testing of school staff is welcome, but it is not happening soon enough. There is also undoubtedly a case for teachers to be offered the Covid vaccine as soon as possible, and I hope that the cabinet secretary will comment on that when he sums up.

I will now concentrate on the issue of free school meals, which is included in the motion. As the cabinet secretary and others in the chamber will know, I have been a long-time campaigner on the issue and I co-sponsored Frances Curran MSP’s Education (School Meals etc) (Scotland) Bill in session 2.

The original campaign was supported by a wide range of organisations including the Scottish Trades Union Congress women’s committee and the Child Poverty Action Group, which produced a campaign book entitled “Even the tatties have batter!” That title was taken from a comment that a pupil made about the standard of school dinners, and it referred to the appalling meals that were on offer, which included the infamous Turkey Twizzlers. That was allowed due to a Tory Government having got rid of nutritional standards for school meals and having removed price controls, which permitted private firms, under compulsory competitive tendering, to charge a fortune for junk food.

Currently, footballer Marcus Rashford is campaigning on school meals. Back then, it was Jamie Oliver who was demanding better-quality food and a ban on Turkey Twizzlers. The Scottish Labour-led Government of the time introduced nutritional standards in our schools through the hungry for success policy.

In 2007, the SNP came into government with a promise to introduce free school meals,

“beginning with our youngest children”.

However, it was only after the Tories at Westminster introduced free school meals for children in primary 1 to 3 in 2014 that the SNP Government used the Barnett consequentials to do the same in Scotland in 2015.

I have no doubt that free nutritious school meals are necessary not only to tackle poverty and hunger, but in terms of nourishment and overall health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, too many of our children remain at risk of being overweight or obese—the figure is around 30 per cent. Despite the Government pledge to halve that by 2030, little progress has been made.

We could engage children with healthy eating by tapping into the fact that many have been inspired by environmental campaigning. Food-related environmental factors could be promoted in order to encourage healthy eating and the uptake of free school meals. However, we need to be sure that schools have the facilities to accommodate children for those meals. Councils have suffered severe cuts to their budgets over the years, so it is essential that the Scottish Government fully compensates them for expenditure on free school meals, in order that other educational services, such as learning support, do not suffer.

Our society has high levels of food insecurity, children going hungry and families increasingly dependent on food banks. There are predictions of a further increase in demand for food banks, due to the pandemic, the resultant unemployment and increasing poverty. That is why my proposal for a right to food is so important.

It is 13 years since the SNP promised to roll out free school meals. Many children have lost out through not having had access to them during that time. Unless the latest promise is just election propaganda, it really is time to act now and fully deliver on the 2007 promise.