Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 December 2020
We will reflect that wisdom and knowledge changed on a daily and sometimes hourly basis in 2020 as the Covid crisis progressed. Some things—some wisdom and knowledge—have got old and outdated very quickly. The Conservative motion is an example of that. It has not aged well.
On exams, the Deputy First Minister has announced that the national 5, higher and advanced higher exams in 2021 will be replaced by alternative certification models and that measures will be in place to address teacher workload. Clarity has now been given.
On teacher numbers, the Scottish Government has taken action to help schools to respond to the challenges of Covid, with additional investment of £135 million. That help includes the recruitment of more than 1,400 additional teachers. Clarity has now been given on teacher numbers.
I remind members that it was the SNP that had to incentivise maintaining teacher numbers in 2015. The then finance secretary, John Swinney, maintained teacher numbers and the pupil teacher ratio by giving a funding package of £51 million to local authorities.
Only last month, the Scottish Tory MPs in the House of Commons famously voted against extending free school meal provision to the summer holidays. Despite Douglas Ross publicly backing the plan, he did not turn up to the House of Commons for that vote. Meanwhile, the SNP Government has delivered its free school meals and is committed to a further £100 payment for those who are in receipt of free school meals, to help families to deal with the pressures of Covid. I say to my Conservative colleagues that that is the difference between a soundbite and real bite—a real bite of food for hungry weans, delivered by the SNP.
The weight of expectation from our young people, parents, carers, educators and local and national bodies is immense. No matter what decisions are taken, we should be mindful that some will be disappointed, anxious and worried, especially about how the crisis might impact on outcomes for our young people.
We should thank everyone for their resilience and patience. There are no winners or losers in these times. To couch this debate in the retrospection of “We told you so” adds nothing. We should all be looking to the road ahead, to the challenges that we still face as a community, and to the outcomes for our young people, which should be everyone’s focus.
Education has to be delivered safely and equably to ensure that our young people, parents, carers, educators, local and national bodies and the wider community of Scotland, including employers, have confidence in the grades that are awarded this year. All those who are involved in delivering Scottish education have faced extremely difficult circumstances.
The Deputy First Minister has announced that national five, higher and advanced higher exams will be replaced by an alternative certification model and that measures will be in place to address teacher workload. That assessment needs to be fair. As was mentioned, almost 40 per cent of secondary 4 pupils who have not been in school for a Covid-related reason for more than one fifth of school opening days are from our poorest communities.
It has been unavoidable that Covid has disrupted learning. It is impossible to guarantee that all learners will be in a position to have their best chance to perform to their true potential during exams. That is why cancelling exams this year has been the right decision. Overall, we should be concerned for the wellbeing of our young people and teachers and we should get behind our school communities as they continue to face the challenges of Covid, as we all do.
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