Meeting of the Parliament 17 January 2024
The cabinet secretary talked about the number of issues that are in the Labour motion. I know that she is busy talking just now, but I suggest to her that we use Government time. Why does the Government not bring forward some of these debates in its time so that we can discuss what I think is the most important issue in Scotland—the failings in our education system and the pressure on teachers, pupils and all staff in our schools?
The cabinet secretary said that she has previously set out a comprehensive plan, but I do not believe that it was a comprehensive plan. If I remember correctly, point 1 of that plan was to come up with a plan.
The cabinet secretary has also talked about the commitment to teachers and pupils and said that she has met many teachers. I think that I have said before that I met a lot of teachers during the teachers’ industrial action dispute, when I went on picket lines because I believed that teachers needed a better deal. I have to say that nothing prepared me for the discussions that I had with them about the kind of issues and problems in schools that put massive pressure on them. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves and their sickness levels from stress are going up and up because we are not tackling those issues.
I do not doubt for a second the cabinet secretary’s sincerity when she called for the three emergency summits to talk about the issues and what we can do about them. The problem for the cabinet secretary is that she does not control the budget. We need more resources going into our primary and secondary schools, and, as Pam Duncan-Glancy says, we particularly need to look at additional support needs.
A month or so ago, I met a group of parents, all of whom have children with additional support needs. They were very critical. They pointed out that their children were being failed when they were put into mainstream schooling and the additional support teachers were not there to support them. Not only are those parents’ children not being supported but, because teachers are struggling to support them, they are not able to support the rest of the children in the class. The point that the parents made to me was that the Government’s policies mean that we are not getting it right for many children, never mind getting it right for every child.
Kate Forbes spoke about kids being able to read, write and count. Numerous secondary school teachers have told me that cohorts of kids are coming up from primary school who are not equipped with the basic numeracy and literacy skills to proceed into the secondary education system. They are doomed to failure as they come from primary school into secondary school. That must be addressed.
The cabinet secretary has to recognise that we need to put in more resources for additional support needs so that every child is given the right chance and we can truly look up.
Finally, mention has been made of the Scottish child payment. The child payment is great—it is tackling poverty—but we need to tackle the root causes of poverty. The best tools that we have for doing that are the education, training and skills that will equip children for the future. That is where our focus must be. We need more resources, and I hope that the cabinet secretary will bring forward more debates in Government time so that we can spend more time on the issue.
15:30