Hansard

I am pleased to bring this debate to the chamber, which is motivated by my deep concern about the deteriorating learning and working environment in schools in Scotland. Education is a great leveller, when we get it right. It can open horizons, build skills and deliver opportunity. For many, it can be a route out of poverty and into good and fair work. Education changed my life, and it is incumbent on all of us here to ensure that we build and deliver an education system that gives every young person in Scotland the tools that they need to get everything that they want out of life.

Scotland’s education system was once the envy of the world but, sadly, after nearly two decades of the Scottish National Party Government, that is no longer the case. It is not just me who worries about that. Satisfaction with our schools, especially among those who experience them first hand, is at an all-time low. When we look at the environment in schools, we can perhaps see why. Trade unions report that 44 per cent of teaching staff say that, in the past 18 months, they have experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils, and that 90 per cent have experienced verbal abuse. They have been sworn at, hit or punched, kicked, spat at and head-butted, and one teacher even had a firework thrown in their direction. Most worryingly, there is growing evidence that female staff suffer more frequent violence and abuse than their male colleagues, with nearly half of female teachers in Scotland saying that they experienced physical abuse or violence from pupils, compared with 36 per cent of males.

A report from School Leaders Scotland that was published in the summer found that school leaders have significant concerns about the rise in aggressive and abusive behaviour. One school leader commented:

“The abusive and aggressive behaviour of a small but difficult core of young people, and the lack of available sanctions to use or support from the authority, makes the job seem not worthwhile at times.”

At a GMB round table—I refer members to my entry in the register of interests in that regard—pupil support staff told me that violence in schools has become expected and seen as part of the job. One pupil support assistant shared that she even has an alarm that she charges every day and wears around her neck in case she is attacked.

Trade unions and others, including members, have long been calling for the Government to tackle the rising issue of violent and abusive behaviour. Workload is making things worse. Overworked staff and underresourced pupil support have left classrooms like pressure cookers. Forty-five per cent of respondents to an Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland survey said that, if they could change one thing, it would be the support for pupils with additional support needs and distressed pupils. That is what I hear everywhere I go, including from parents who talk passionately about their worries on child and adult mental health services waiting times, which render help a pipe dream; a lack of speech and language therapists; and the lack of a pathway for neurodivergent young people to get the support that they desperately need.

Those are just some examples of the systemic issues that must be addressed if the Government’s late advice on consequences and risk is to be truly helpful. The Educational Institute of Scotland is balloting its members, because this has gone on too long. The SNP Government promised action on non-contact time in its manifesto. With six months until the next election, that looks set to become another broken promise. The Government has also sat on—not acted on—a report that is now 10 years old that sets out ways to address workload pressures, yet we have teachers reporting working at least a day a week above their contracted hours. The Government has broken its promise on having 3,500 more teachers, and 15, 16 and 17-year-olds across the country are denied chances to study some subjects as a result.

It is not only that evidence and report that the Government has ignored. The Hayward and Morgan reports, as well as screeds of advice from experts such as Enlighten on the need for knowledge in the curriculum, and from others on the importance of teaching synthetic phonics, all sit on the cabinet secretary’s shelf.

We have some of the most dedicated teachers and school staff, the most determined pupils and the strongest and most ambitious parents in the world, but the SNP Government’s failure to listen to experts, act on advice and act fast to prioritise young people has left the attainment gap stubbornly wide, teachers struggling with unmanageable workloads, parents at the end of their tether and, ultimately, nearly a quarter of a million young people not in employment. I am afraid that its incompetence and distractions have allowed schools to deteriorate and denied young people the opportunities that they deserve.

Scotland’s young people have enormous potential. Together, our job is to ensure that every child leaves education confident, resilient and equipped with the knowledge and skills that they need to thrive in work and in life. I ask the Government to reflect, change course, use this moment and reset. It should focus on retraining, support and working with staff; gather data on which teachers are needed, where and when; make pupil equity funding permanent; provide security in planning and address staff workload urgently; take action to make reporting and recording poor behaviour mandatory and consistent, to help improve the working environment and retain staff; rebuild the scaffolding around young people so that they get the support that they need from cradle all the way to career, so that they can get the best out of education and so that opportunity is spread at every age and stage; make classes phone free and make learning the priority; reform initial teacher education so that it meets the needs of the moment and aligns placements to a comprehensive workforce plan, which the Parliament voted for more than a year and a half ago but which we have yet to see from the Government; create a national register of supply teachers so that teachers can move to where they are needed and get jobs when they want them; and use technology and digitisation to reduce workload.

Many great ideas are proffered not only from these benches but from screeds of reports and experts across the system—from parents, pupils, teachers and staff—in Scotland. The Government must listen to them.

Things have deteriorated on this Government’s watch, and this is not as good as it gets. We can have a system that delivers high and rising standards, the right support at the right time for every child and staff member and that unlocks opportunity for all—that is the future. That is what is at stake and what Scotland can have if it changes direction. After nearly two decades, it is clear that this Government cannot or will not do that, but a Scottish Labour Government will do that if we are elected in May.

I move,

That the Parliament recognises that pupils and staff are being failed by the deteriorating learning and working environment in Scottish schools, overseen by the Scottish National Party administration.