Hansard

There is no doubt that teachers, pupils and parents have had the most difficult year due to the Covid-19 pandemic—a year like no other, and one that I hope we are gradually moving out of.

The Liberal Democrats’ motion makes very serious criticism of the action—or inaction, as they see it—of two education bodies: the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Education Scotland. As a member of the Education and Skills Committee, I am aware of the dissatisfaction with those bodies. They are far from perfect, and it would be hypocritical of me to defend them at every level. The committee has heard empirical evidence that communication by both organisations with teaching staff and, by extension, parents and pupils has been poor, both during the pandemic and pre-pandemic.

However, the Liberal Democrats’ motion and the Opposition amendments are extreme, and extremely unhelpful. They completely ignore the unprecedented challenge that the organisations have been up against for almost a year now, during Covid-19. The Deputy First Minister made it clear that lessons needed to be learned from the initial awards that were given in 2020, which was, as we know, unsuccessful to say the least. That is why swift action was taken to commission the rapid review of the awarding of grades.

The distress that was caused to many pupils throughout Scotland through the use of an algorithm for the awarding of grades was unacceptable, and that was quickly acknowledged by the Government and the education bodies. We have moved on, and hopefully lessons have been learned.

The provision of online and remote learning continues to improve during the second lockdown. I am aware of that from feedback from constituents, as I am sure other members are. In a survey of more than 12,000 parents by Education Scotland, most said that they had had helpful communication about arrangements for remote learning, which is encouraging to hear.

Considerable work has been going on throughout the pandemic. Education Scotland digital officers have delivered 134 webinars for more than 7,500 practitioners. In addition, Education Scotland has provided a named contact for every headteacher in Scotland, allowing headteachers a single point of contact.

The SQA is mindful of last year’s experience and I am optimistic that communication with teachers will be quicker and more transparent. The cabinet secretary has outlined the many areas in which proactive support is being offered to teaching staff this year.

There is no doubt about the additional burden that home learning is placing on many children and their families, and, of course, on teachers, many of whom are struggling to home school their own children while teaching online.

It is important to stress that the operational responsibility for schools lies with local authorities, and they have received considerable additional funding from the Scottish Government. A further £40 million has been awarded to help councils implement safety mitigations for the return to school, aligned with clinical advice and £60 million of additional investment in education recovery, which includes money for employing more teachers and classroom support staff and for facilities management.

The OECD review was undertaken to help us better understand how curriculum for excellence has been implemented across the country, after a committee inquiry recommendation. Following the 2020 SQA exam results, the Scottish Government asked the OECD to expand that work and to have a deeper focus on the assessment and qualifications approach in the senior phase. Ministers have been working with the OECD to scope the additional work on assessment and qualifications, which will be aligned with the current OECD review, and a comparative paper will be published later in the summer, following the publication of the CFE review report in June 2021.

The Scottish Government had to extend the timetable that is available to carry out the review because of the extra work that the OECD has been asked to undertake. It has also had to acknowledge the constraints under which the OECD is operating due to the effects of the pandemic. Whether that enables the OECD to formulate interim thoughts in advance of the 2021 election is for the OECD to determine.

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has made education a priority, particularly as we plan the route map out of lockdown. We are grateful to our hard-working, dedicated teaching professionals for their intense work in planning, organising and delivering learning. As parents grapple with teaching their children at home, many of them now appreciate the skills needed to do the job.

The virus will be beaten and schools will return fully to intensify our efforts to achieve excellence and equity for all Scotland’s children.