Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 December 2020
I do not doubt the commitment to education in Scotland of any of my colleagues in the Parliament. I do not doubt that they want the best for our young people, but sometimes in a debate such as this one we have to take a deep breath and acknowledge that we are living in unprecedented times.
It has been difficult for everyone to know what is going on from day to day, let alone be able to plan and ensure that we have got everything right in education all the time, every single day.
I welcome the work being done by our teachers and pupils to try to continue down their educational path, but we have to find a way of making everything safe for them so that pupils can build for their futures.
Many colleagues come to the chamber and say that they welcome the debate that they are speaking in. It is a bit of a cliché, like many others that we use. However, I welcome today’s debate because the Deputy First Minister has already covered many of the issues that are in the Tory motion. Yes, there are many challenges out there for us all, and there are many things that we need to address, but the Deputy First Minister recently announced that exams would be replaced by alternative certification models, and he also addressed teaching workload. Those are just two of the points in the Tory motion.
The fact is that the Scottish Government has taken action to help schools to respond to the many challenges of Covid-19 in education, with £135 million that includes funding for the recruitment of 1,400 additional teachers—[Interruption.]
I would love to take an intervention, but when we have these speed-dating debates, it is difficult to take time out.
It is, however, strange to read in the Tory motion that the Conservative Party is a new recruit to the idea of all forms of free school meals. I will always encourage new recruits on an issue as important as that. However, it was not long ago that the Scottish Tory leader made a similar commitment, but then did not even bother to turn up for the vote. Members should not think for a minute that I do not believe that my colleagues mean what they say, but, at the end of the day, the Tory leader did not even bother to turn up for a vote on extending free school meals during the summer, despite publicly backing it—[Interruption.]
I really do not have the time to take an intervention.
Many years ago, I sold cars. Car salespeople are perceived to have a sullied reputation because of the industry that they work in. I do not know one car salesperson who would do what Douglas Ross did when he said one thing and delivered something completely different. I have never known anybody in the industry—even though it is one that the public has a negative view of—to do anything like that, but that is the Tories for you: they just cannot help themselves.
Last night, I watched a young man on TV—a school pupil—saying that he welcomed John Swinney’s announcement yesterday because it takes the pressure off him and his colleagues and gives them the opportunity to concentrate, given that they are still dealing with the challenges of Covid. It will give them the opportunity to get on with their education; the EIS said something similar on that point. That is an interesting point, and I think it is why all our colleagues sometimes need to take a deep breath and understand what is actually happening out there in the real world and get on with delivering for the people of Scotland.
One day, this will all be over—it will all be history—and we will tell our grandchildren about it but, when that day comes, we have to be sure that we have given our pupils the educational opportunity that they need so that they can go forward and get on with the rest of their lives.
16:13