Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2026 [Draft]
One of the enduring tests of education is not simply that we affirm but whether we are prepared to examine claims rigorously rather than just accept them uncritically. That principle serves this Parliament well when we assess claims of success in public policy. It is in that spirit that I rise to support the motion in the name of Willie Rennie and to support the Scottish Labour amendment, because they ask the Parliament to do something entirely reasonable: to judge the Scottish Government not on promises made but on commitments delivered.
Since 2016, the Government has set out a series of headline pledges on education with clear targets that were publicly stated and repeatedly affirmed. The pledges included free laptops for all pupils, free bikes for children who cannot afford them, free school meals for all pupils up to primary 7, an additional 3,500 teachers, reduced class contact time and, critically, the closing of the poverty-related attainment gap by 2026. Those were not Opposition demands; they were Government commitments. However, many of those commitments have been missed, diluted, delayed or quietly abandoned altogether. That matters, because, when education targets are missed, it is not spreadsheets that suffer; it is schools, teachers and families—it is our children who are let down.
The Government might argue that circumstances have changed. It might point to the pandemic or wider pressures. However, leadership is not tested when delivery is straightforward; it is tested when priorities must be defended and promises must be honoured under strain.
The motion is right to state that the failure to meet the commitments has had real and tangible consequences, which we can see in the classroom. Teachers speak of rising levels of violence and disruption, while pupils with additional support needs too often face delay or denial when they seek the help that they are legally entitled to.
At the same time, the profession is under profound pressure. Record numbers of newly qualified teachers are leaving the profession not through a lack of vocation but because the system is failing to sustain them. Workloads are excessive, class sizes remain high and promised reductions in class contact time have not been delivered. It should surprise no one that teachers are once again considering industrial action. That is not a system at ease; it is a system that is stretched close to breaking point.
The motion directs us to the attainment gap, which is perhaps the clearest measure of this Government’s education record. For years, ministers have rightly described closing the poverty-related attainment gap as their defining mission. However, the gap remains wide, and progress has been uneven and fragile. The motion does not deny the complexity of the challenge, but it rejects the idea that ambition alone is a substitute for delivery. Scotland’s children do not have the luxury of waiting, because they get one chance at their childhood.
That is why I support the Labour amendment, which recognises that international evidence matters. Declining performance since 2012 is not about league table vanity; it is a warning signal that long trends in literacy, numeracy and equity are falling.
I turn briefly to the cabinet secretary’s amendment. It offers an impressive catalogue of budgets, figures and future intentions. However, it confirms the problem that this debate is about, because it substitutes announcement for achievement and asks the Parliament to look forward rather than account for what has not yet been delivered. Investment is not in dispute, but delivery is. It is right to have gratitude for teachers, staff, parents and pupils, but that cannot be used as a shield.
Education is one of the clearest tests of whether opportunity in Scotland is broadly shared. It is disappointing that this SNP Government has not learned that lesson.