Hansard

My party and I have long believed that education can be a great leveller, spreading opportunity for all, and that it should be built on the values of opportunity and ambition and of high aspiration and standards for every child who passes through the gates of any school in any part of our country. However, we know that it will not do that by accident; it happens only by design.

I and my party have brought this debate to the chamber today because we are worried that we face systemic challenges in education that could hold back our potential. Since I became Scottish Labour’s spokesperson on education, I have found that, no matter what stone I turn over or what corner I look around, there are deep and wide-ranging challenges, despite the best efforts of our outstanding teachers, the hard work of our pupils and the tenacity of our parents.

There is a quote from a teacher in the national discussion report that has stuck with me and it sums up the challenges well. It is this:

“In my class of 30, 4 have ASD ... 3 have longstanding ... anxiety difficulties ... one has been adopted, one”

is

“experiencing a form of trauma, one is a young carer, 2 others have severe learning difficulties. ... There is only one of me—I can’t give those ... children enough of my attention to support their wellbeing, never mind their and the other ... children’s learning needs .... I know exactly what support each child needs but can’t split myself 30 ways”.

That quote not only sums up the complexities that our teachers face but shines a light on why classrooms are becoming a bit like pressure cookers. With concerns bubbling up, they are vulnerable to overflowing. The result is behavioural concerns, teachers at the end of their tether and, yes, declining standards in education. We have to address all of that if we are to rebuild our education system and spread opportunity for all.

Back in December, I was grateful to the cabinet secretary for finally recognising that standards are slipping, but it should not have taken Scotland falling behind our neighbours and our international peers for the Government to take action. For too long, pupils, teachers and parents have seen a reality that is very different from the picture that their Government has painted. That disconnect has left them wondering why their Government is not listening and why the promises that were made on contact time and free breakfasts for primary school pupils, which ensure that they start the day fed and ready to learn, remain undelivered. They are watching in anticipation of what we—their representatives and the Government—will do to give them the education system that they want and deserve; to make classrooms the safe, nurturing and conducive environments that they should be; and to ensure that children are in those classrooms. They are looking for leadership to address the decline not just in academic performance but in pupil engagement.

Parents, teachers and unions recognise, as I do, that we must view challenges not in isolation but as interconnected parts with a cause-and-effect relationship that demands our urgent attention. The Educational Institute of Scotland’s stand up for quality education campaign is a fantastic example of an interconnected and systemic approach to delivering the education that we need. The first issue that it raises is teacher workload, which is a concern that will resonate with all who are working across our education system. Teachers are the architects of our children’s futures and the backbone of the system, and we need them to be at their best if we are to achieve our goal of opportunity for all. Right now, however, they are overburdened by an excessive workload, stretched across competing demands and tangled up in bureaucracy, all of which hinders their ability to deliver the quality education that they got into the profession to provide. The solution lies in concrete measures to alleviate those burdens, including the promised increase in non-contact time to provide teachers with the breathing space that they need. I repeat my ask that the Government confirms when that will be delivered.

However, it is not just the conditions that are difficult. The issue is compounded by the continued use of temporary teaching contracts. Five thousand of our teachers are without stable, permanent positions and are facing insecurity. It is no wonder, then, that teacher numbers are down in secondary schools, but we need them to be on the rise. Furthermore, the number of teachers who are still teaching after their first year has dropped from its level five years ago. It is a self-perpetuating cycle that is created by Government inaction. Reduced teacher numbers also make it more difficult to deliver on the promise of non-contact time.

The shortages are not felt equally. Some areas and subjects are faring worse. One way to address that is to ask probationary teachers to opt in to the preference waiver payment scheme. However, as a result of the precarity of the situation, the number who opt to do that has reduced, which is exacerbating gaps in geographical provision and undermining equality.

Teaching is an incredible profession to enter. The opportunities to shape lives are numerous, and we should cherish and value it. However, there is a recruitment and retention crisis, which is a product of much more than concerns about salaries and wages. It is about the conditions in the room, the lack of support for pupils with additional support needs, and pupils’ violence and poor behaviour. Furthermore, the prevalence of declining standards and disengagement weighs heavy on teachers. All of that needs to be addressed.

The solution cannot simply be, as the Government has suggested previously, to teach teachers how to be better. Teachers are already excellent—I know that the cabinet secretary believes that—but they are too often going it alone. The number of teachers who are specially qualified and equipped to handle complex needs has dwindled, falling by more than 700 during the past decade. Where additional support staff exist, they are scarce and spread thinly. That figure is masked by poor monitoring and reporting and by the conflated definition of the remits that different support staff have. The stand up for quality education campaign rightly emphasises the need for strategies to tackle those issues head on.

The Scottish Government’s international council of education advisers is right: we must recognise that the time for commissioning reviews is over and the time for action is now. The motion calls for the Government, as a start, to do what it promised and set out a clear timetable to deliver not just on the review recommendations—we continue to wait for it to do that—but on non-contact time, ASN support and free breakfasts. In short, the motion is a call to action. It is a rallying cry for a concerted effort to deliver high and rising standards of education in Scotland, with classrooms where everyone feels safe and is safe and where all pupils, regardless of their backgrounds, can learn.

The challenges are formidable, but so, too, is our resolve. Let us set aside political differences and unite in the pursuit of a brighter future for our children. The time for reviews is over. The time for action is now.

I move,

That the Parliament acknowledges the recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, and the conclusions that educational standards in Scotland are declining; considers that there are a number of contributing factors that have led to the current difficulties in Scotland’s classrooms; notes the Educational Institute of Scotland’s (EIS) Stand Up for Quality Education campaign, which sets out recommendations on teacher workloads, resourcing for pupils with additional support needs (ASN) and addressing violent and disruptive behaviour in classrooms as key steps to improving the experience of pupils and teachers; agrees with the Scottish Government’s International Council of Education Advisers that “the time for commissioning reviews is now over”, and calls on the Scottish Government to set out a timetable for when it will deliver on its promises in education, including addressing the continued use of temporary teacher contracts, improving workloads by increasing non-contact time for teachers, addressing the gaps in teacher provision in geographical and subject areas, delivering structural reforms, including to the SQA and Education Scotland, and meeting its commitment to offer free breakfasts in primary and special schools.