Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 03 June 2021
I intend to come on to that area a little bit further into my speech. If Oliver Mundell will forgive me, I will therefore leave that until then. I also know that, in closing, the Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training, who has specific responsibility for universities and colleges, will say even more about that than I can in my opening remarks. If Oliver Mundell bears with me, he will absolutely be reassured that we are taking that very seriously.
We know that the pandemic has had an impact on education globally. The issues that are being experienced in Scotland are common to countries across the world, and research shows us that Covid has had an adverse consequence on the health and wellbeing of some children as well as on their attainment.
In recognising those risks, the Scottish Government has already committed £400 million over 2020-21 and 2021-22 to support education recovery. Earlier this year, the Nuffield Foundation reported that the funding that had been committed per pupil in Scotland for catch-up was the most generous of all the United Kingdom nations. That funding has enabled local authorities to recruit an additional 1,400 teachers and more than 200 support staff, has led to around 70,000 devices and 1,400 connectivity packages being distributed to learners, and has ensured that no child has gone hungry, thanks to the free school meal alternative during the period of remote learning and school holidays. In addition to that, we have introduced the £20 million pupil equity funding premium for 2021-22, thereby increasing investment in PEF to £148 million this year.