Meeting of the Parliament 07 November 2023
Liam Kerr touched on a number of different areas. I will start with the current context because that is really important. He spoke about the update that I provided to the Parliament back in June, on the plethora of different reports that I had on my desk when I was first appointed. I was keen to attempt to knit together a narrative linking those reports. I accept that we are not there yet, and I commit to the Parliament to work with my ministerial colleagues on developing that narrative further. Graeme Dey will come to the chamber later this year to give an update further to the James Withers review.
More broadly, the changes to governance that I have outlined today insert ministerial oversight into the process. It is hugely important that we are not working in silos and that there is a joined-up approach in the Government.
I hear the critique from ADES, which has highlighted the benefits of having a more systemic approach to curriculum review. That is hugely important, and I look forward to meeting ADES on Thursday this week at its conference.
More broadly, on governance structures, the chief executives of the relevant organisations will be represented in the forum. On the reform agenda, I will chair that group and provide direction on how we can tie the agendas together.
Mr Kerr asked a question about secondary pupils and their qualifications. I am not sure that I fully understood his question in relation to the Hayward review, but I would be more than happy to write to him directly.
In all that mix, I am conscious of what has been described to me as the growing appetite for radical reform and of the reality of my discussions and engagement with the profession, who say that there are challenges in our classrooms right now—whether that be behaviour, attendance or other broader issues in that realm—that the Government also needs to address. We need to be mindful of that current context as we move forward.
The approach that we are taking in relation to the education reform legislation is a truncated one. It is a short six-week period. It is important that we get that right, because things have moved on since 2021. Next year, we will move forward with the work to reform the bodies, to ensure that they better meet the needs of our children and young people.
I look forward to working with Mr Kerr on the qualifications issue, because that will be the next step following the change around the bodies and the question about whether we need to fully accept the recommendations that came from Louise Hayward’s review, which would be quite a radical change for Scotland's education system.