Education Questions Scottish Parliament


Education Questions

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Wins on to portfolio questions on education and skills. Can I ask the

:00:29.:00:44.

Scottish Government what support it offers to people from island

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communities who want to access university medical courses?

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Minister. The Scottish Government supports a number of initiatives to

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encourage island communities to access high demand professions such

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as medicine clinic in March this year, we also announced funding of

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?330,000 to deliver pre-emptive courses to medicine, being a key

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component of Aberdeen university. The Scottish funding council

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provides additional funding to universities to help improve access

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to high demand professions. There is a reach programme to each medical

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school in Scotland to assist pupils from local aggression schools who

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wish to access medical courses. Can I thank the minister for that

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response? She will recognise that recruiting and training staff to

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island services presents specific challenges. Getting to medical

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school is difficult, but pupils need to believe they can achieve it,

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otherwise they will not apply. Work experience is essential, but not

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easy. For many students, there are confidence unity issues. Travel can

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cost ?1000 or more and take students out of school for two or three days,

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at a time when they need to be focused on getting the five Grade As

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that they need. Agree that there will be further steps which can be

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taken to level the playing field even more, to improve the access of

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Ireland people's to medical courses? I would readily agree with the

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premise of the MacArthur's point. I discussed this very challenge when I

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was at Glasgow university recently. As I mentioned in my original

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answer, there is a pre-medical entry programme which looks at remote

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communities. We also have a graduate entry medical programme, which again

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ensures that remote and rural focus is given to those people going

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through that course, and I'm aware of other collaborations which

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continue with the NHS to ensure that clearing events and other events are

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taking place in school, to ensure that those in remote and island

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communities can access the Didi information and encouragement that

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we would expect in any of our schools. I am happy to carry on the

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dialogue with Liam McArthur if he thinks there are particular aspects

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in his constituency. How does you a giant's compass model help islanders

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train as health care professionals. We know it is easier...

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UHI is a key partner, we are taking steps to improve access in rural

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areas. As I mentioned, the graduate entry programme was announced in

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delivered by the medical schools of delivered by the medical schools of

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St Andrews and Dundee, in collaboration with the University Of

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Highlands And Islands. It will provide students with exposure to

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the issues and will help deliver a more sustainable health workforce

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for Scotland and its rural communities. With regard to nursing

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and midwifery, the University of Stirling will transfer 100

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registrations to UHI from next year. And I look forward to visiting

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Inverness to see that work when I go up to Inverness in October. To ask

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the Scottish Government when the 20 14th guide and is on school meals

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will be reviewed? There are currently no plans to review that

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guidance. 2008 guidance, healthy eating in schools, will be updated

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following any changes coming out of the review of the nutritional

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requirements of food and Greg in schools. The programme supports

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schools in food education. It is unlikely to be required to be

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updated in the light of the review of the nutritional standards. One

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concern I have in my area is that very often, when parents make

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complaints about what they consider to be the nutritional standard of

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school meals, that government guidance is voted back almost as if

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it were regulation, and that the local authority was hidebound in

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what they were able to offer. Can the Cabinet Secretary confirm that

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it is in fact guidance and not regulation? Presiding Officer, we do

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provide guidance of the type Healthy Eating In Schools and Better Eating,

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Better Learning. It is designed to support local authorities in their

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schools programme. But local authorities do have flexibility to

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provide food and print services as they deem appropriate to meet local

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needs and priorities, dividing they have first fulfilled their statutory

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obligations in this respect. The legislation to produce the highest

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quality of produce under the highest animal welfare protocols, ensuring a

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living wage in the countryside. In producing produce for schools, we

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find that the central government contract is importing foodstuffs

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from all over the world which can be produced and is produced, to a

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higher standard, by our own farmers. Can we make it sure that local food

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makes it onto the plates of our schoolchildren for the sake of their

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health, and in support of the local economy? This was something which my

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colleague was dealing with when he was the Rural Affairs Secretary. He

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invested a significant amount of time to work with me in my former

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responsibility, in procurement, to make sure that we had as much effort

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and opportunity for the farming community within Scotland to be able

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to access procurement contracts at a general level within Scotland, but

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obviously food contracts being a substantial proportion of that. In

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principle, I am in agreement about the importance of ensuring that the

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quality agricultural produce in Scotland can find its way into the

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procurement contracts in the public sector, and particularly into our

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schools. As part of the learning experience, I am also very keen that

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young people have an understanding of the origins and routes by which

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food is produced to enable that better understanding as part of the

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health and well-being aspect of the curriculum which is undertaken in

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our schools. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has

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taken to ensure that schools can fill teacher vacancies? The

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Government has taken a number of actions to help recruit teachers. We

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are spending ?88 million this year to make sure every school has access

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to the right number of teachers. We have increased student intake

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targets for the sixth year in a row. And we are setting targets to train

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teachers in the subjects where they are needed most. We are also

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supporting innovative new routes into teaching. We launched a new

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teacher recruitment campaign on the 8th of February, under the title

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Teaching Meets People. This builds on the success of last year's

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Inspiring Teachers campaign. Clearly, none of that is working,

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because the Cabinet Secretary will be aware that there are 700 current

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teacher vacancies, and this is having a direct impact on children's

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education. In addition, there is a market increase in head teachers are

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being asked to look after more than one school and this is becoming the

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norm in some areas. How on earth can they look after their school when

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they are not there on a daily basis? How far we allow one excellent

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education service fall before the Government acts? Let me address a

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number of the points which she makes. " I recognise that there are

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shortages in the viability of teachers in certain parts of the

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country and in certain subjects. I set out a number of the steps which

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the Government is taking to try to rectify that. This year alone we

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have increased the number of places available for teacher training by

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370 two begin to address those issues. The whole process of what we

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are planning is a complex and difficult process, and quite

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clearly, shortages are arising out of that. I can also assure her that

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I have had discussions with the General Teaching Council For

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Scotland, who regularly... To ensure that where there are registered

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teachers who are not currently active in teaching, they are being

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contacted to try to motivate them to become active in teaching. And also,

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the General Teaching Council takes an efficient approach to teaching

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applications, to assess and evaluate the contribution teachers can make

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to a schools education if they would wish to do so. The second issue was

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about the fact that some headteachers may be operating across

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more than one school. I disagree fundamentally with her about this

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particular point. I think where we have exceptional head teachers, with

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the right support models in place, I think it is perfectly possible and

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tangible for those headteachers to be able to deploy their skills

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across more than one school. For example, in the city of Glasgow, one

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head teacher of a large secondary school, St Andrews secondary school

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in the East End of Glasgow, regarded as one of the most experienced and

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effective headteachers in the country, has been invited by the

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director of education in Glasgow City Council to provide leadership

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at the same time at Holyrood secondary school. My response to

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that was to say that I thought it was advantageous for pupils in many

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parts of our country to experience distinguished and effectively to

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ship in education. It has to be properly supported, I accept that.

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But I think the arrangements that we put in place in that example, by

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Glasgow City Council, I fully support and endorse because I think

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they are beneficial for the young people in Scotland. Can the Cabinet

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Secretary outline that progress is being made to develop new routes

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into teaching? Presiding Officer, at my instigation, there were a number

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of new projects identified to encourage teachers to enter the

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teaching profession. The General Teaching Council Is Assessing 11 Of

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Those Particular Routes And Some Of That Assessment Is Now Complete, And

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We Are Able To Recruit Teachers On The Basis Of Those New routes into

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teaching. It is an example of where the Government has responded

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positively and provided innovative approaches, and I woke the input we

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have had from the College of education. The Cabinet Secretary at

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knowledge is that feeling teaching vacancies quite often takes time.

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Sometimes, supply teachers can be used when a teacher is absent.

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Supply teachers are falling -- supply teacher numbers. So what

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urgent action is the Scottish devilment taking to deal with supply

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teacher numbers? The measures set out to contact

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registered teachers who are not currently active in teaching but

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could contribute in some way to the supply pool, is one of the most

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significant areas that we can take action in this respect. The question

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that Mr Kirk raises is one which highlights the general challenge

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that exists in that this issue. Just before the Easter recess, I spent

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two days at the international summit on the teaching profession. Mike two

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predecessors took part in that summit in New Zealand and Canada. I

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took part of it in Morrison Street in Edinburgh. The chamber will

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understand how Morrison Street is in comparison to New Zealand and

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Canada. In all the countries represented at the summit, and it

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was clear from my counterpart in England and Singapore, and Finland,

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and in Canada, and in New Zealand, in very highly regarded education

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systems, there is a systemic challenge of recruiting individuals

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to the teaching profession which is not just the Scottish issue. We have

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to think inventively and creatively how we can motivate more people to

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come into the teaching profession. Part of my general work is to raise

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the credibility and value and esteem of the teaching profession as young

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people will need to have a good flow of individuals entering the

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profession to deliver the education on which they depend. To ask the

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Scottish Government whether it will provide an update to Parliament

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whether it will publish a new anti-bullying strategy for schools.

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The Government will issue a refreshed anti-bullying guidance

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when the equality and human rights Committee has finished its

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investigation into bullying in schools. I am grateful to the

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Committee to consider further evidence and we will consider the

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views and any further evidence gathered prior to the publication of

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the strategy. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer.

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Every good strategy needs a vision. It needs a plan of vision and

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allocation of appropriate resources as well. Bullying is not confined to

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young people and schools alone, does the Cabinet Secretary consider that

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the cut by over 1000 in classroom assistants and the cut by over 4000

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of teachers and Scottish classrooms since his Party took office will

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help or hinder the effective implementation of this delayed

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anti-bullying strategy? The first thing is to say, Mr Leonard uses the

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word delayed. The House I am being censored but it was used in a

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pejorative way. The Government responded to a Committee positively.

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I could publish the strategy months ago but the Committee asked if I

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would delay it until they took further evidence. I felt that was

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the respectful thing for me to do was to delay publication and to hear

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what the Committee had to say to me. I have given way to him. I am

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grateful for the effort she has given on the subject. We recognise

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that appropriate resources being in place to support young people in all

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other schools, Mr Leonard can be assured that the heart of this

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strategy will be intolerance of bullying of any young people in

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schools or in any aspect of our society, or in any situation in our

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society. The Government will map out how we will take that forward after

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engagement with stakeholders and the parliamentary Committee. To ask the

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Scottish Government report requirements and local authorities

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have to provide children with the basic tools of learning at school.

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Education authorities have a duty under the education Scotland act

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1980, to provide books, writing materials, stationery, mathematical

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instruments, practice material and other articles necessary to enable

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pupils who receive education through public schools or other

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arrangements, to take full advantage of education. Thank you for that

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answer. The statutory duty of councils to provide books and

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materials, the Cabinet Secretary may be aware that YouTube decisions

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taken by the independent counsel, Fortrose have had to find some basic

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school provisions. In light of the election tomorrow, what is the

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Cabinet Secretary's view on this and how education can be the top

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priority for the next administration? I reiterate my

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earlier answer in which statute could not be clearer on this.

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Education authorities have duty under the education Scotland act to

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provide books, writing materials, stationery, mathematical materials,

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practice materials and other resources to allow people is to

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receive free education. That is the statutory duty. In relation to the

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resources available, Highland Council for 17-18 received an

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increase of over ?20 million for the resources available to it, an

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additional 4.4% increase on its budget in 2016-17. They will be

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decisions that the Highland Council has to make about the allocation of

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its resources. That backdrop drop indicates that a very strong

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settlement has been delivered by the headland council to enable it to

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properly fund education. Across the Highlands, the has-been 3000 --

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three million 924000 pounds and people equity funding which has been

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delivered in schools and Fortrose Academy has received ?30,000. I

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would hope that the local authority working in partnership with the

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school would take the necessary resource and decisions against a

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strong settlement from the Government to fund education. Either

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that the Cabinet Secretary to the report published by the accounts

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commission in March that local in Scotland challenges report, they

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said it spent four people figures that show since 2010, spending in

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secondary schools by people has fallen by over ?550 and primary

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schools, it is 500 people -- ?500 per pupil since 2010. That is almost

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10%. Does the Cabinet Secretary recognise those numbers and does

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that look the overall funding levels that have been cut by ?1.5 billion.

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What Mr Johnson needs to look out for is the analysis that the

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accounts commission undertook. I think it was published... It must be

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just before the turn of the year where the accounts commission said

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that the funding settlement for local authorities had been largely

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on par with the funding settlement received by the Scottish Government.

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The Scottish Government has treated very fairly local Government within

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the resources available to the Scottish Government. As I indicated

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as an example in response to the question that Kay Forbes gave,

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Highland Council receives an extra 4.4% in 2016-17. And the current

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financial climate that would be viewed as a strong boost to local

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authority funding and the Government is delighted to make that available

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to the Highland Council and any authority and any authority in the

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country. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide

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an update on what action it is taking to improve literacy rates.

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The Scottish Government is taking a wide range of action to improve

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literacy rates across all age groups. This includes action in the

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early years through the significant expansion of heavy learning and

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child care, the relentless focus on literacy and numeracy through the

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attainment challenge, supported by people equity funding. The expansion

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of programmes such as the First Minister's Reading challenge. The

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new literacy and English benchmarks and the international standardised

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assessments will support robust assessment of young people's

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process. -- progress. Thank you for the answer. I should have said at

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the beginning that I do fear members as a dash to the register of

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interest, I am still a councillor in South Lanarkshire. The last time I

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get to see that. The reason support in the Times newspaper reveals that

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children are facing a postcode lottery when it comes to accessing

:23:06.:23:10.

library services. One third of specialist school library staff have

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been cut since 2010. The chartered Institute of library and information

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specialist repair themselves to the Cabinet Secretary. Given the decline

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in professionally staffed libraries, can the Cabinet Secretary explained

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how his aim of closing the attainment gap between the richest

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and poorest children in Scotland will be achieved? This is a very

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emotional afternoon for us all. It is the last time that Monica Lennon

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will share with us the fact that she is a member of South Lanarkshire

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Council and I am sure there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of

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teeth as a consequence of this auspicious moment being passed. In

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relation to the substance of her question, I value enormously the

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role of school libraries. I was recently in the public commissions

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-- public petitions Committee where a petition was held about the

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concern of... I took forward a national strategy for public

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libraries which will be -- will reinforce the view that I hold that

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school libraries are crucial to the development and capability of young

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people. If you months ago, the Member for Murray invited me to

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visit Elgin Academy. When I went there the first place that the

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headteacher took me was to the library. The purpose of why that was

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the case... Because the school library had been configured and led

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by a very effective librarian and designed in a fashion to be the

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epicentre of the school where many good things happened and many

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contributions to the young people, the well-being of young people were

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delivered between older and younger pupils and the Academy. It is one of

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choice that the school and the 40 have obviously decided to go down

:25:12.:25:15.

that route. Other authorities are taking a different route. I want to

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come very firmly on the side of the role of libraries within our schools

:25:20.:25:23.

being of significance and value to enhance the learning of young people

:25:24.:25:28.

and to improve literacy which is at the heart of the Government's

:25:29.:25:32.

efforts in closing the attainment gap in Scottish education. For the

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final time I would like to declare an interest as a councillor on

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Aberdeen City Council. The Scottish Government's on statistics show that

:25:43.:25:46.

in Aberdeen city, not even half of the pupils reach the expected level

:25:47.:25:52.

of writing by primary seven. Is it not time for the Scottish Government

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to get back to the day job, making sure that children can read and

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write properly and admit that under this Government, the implementation

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of CFCs as many children leaving primary school not properly equipped

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for secondary school. -- CFE. The departure of prof Thomson from the

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council in Aberdeen tomorrow, they will be weeping and wailing and

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gnashing of teeth about other issues handled by Aberdeen City Council in

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a spectacularly unceremonious fashion public vote. I am coming to

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the question, Councillor Thompson, as I should paraphrase for last

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time. The Government has addressed the First Minister with responses to

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Ross Davidson today on some of the challenges that are experienced in

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Scottish education and the Government is focused entirely on

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addressing those. I do not think it is bluntly good enough for Mr

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Thompson to come here and try to absolve himself of any

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responsibility or contribution to the process. Mr Thomson has been the

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vice convener of education for Aberdeen City Council. The statute

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says that the local authorities are the ones that deliver education. My

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question for Mr Thompson is, what is he been doing about it? As long

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service in Aberdeen City Council, what has he done to improve

:27:26.:27:31.

educational performance? Maybe if Mr Thompson had concentrated on his day

:27:32.:27:34.

job and not tried to get other day jobs, he could have made more

:27:35.:27:36.

progress into the bargain. 'S. To ask the Scottish Government

:27:37.:27:48.

whether it will provide an update on what action is taken to make sure

:27:49.:27:53.

that all pupils can take place in extracurricular activities

:27:54.:27:56.

irrespective of background or personal circumstances. We want all

:27:57.:28:00.

young children to be fully included in their learning, making sure that

:28:01.:28:04.

those at risk of being marginalised in education in the classroom or in

:28:05.:28:07.

the wider school experience is fully engaged in the learning as they can

:28:08.:28:12.

be. The 2014 guidance on planning for disabled pupils with the access

:28:13.:28:19.

to education, sets out the activities and school trips, and

:28:20.:28:22.

school sports as learning opportunities should be taken under

:28:23.:28:29.

that act. In a recent Reform Scotland report, it states,

:28:30.:28:35.

extracurricular activities are an important part of a child's

:28:36.:28:39.

development and help them socialise out of the classroom, learn and

:28:40.:28:44.

develop new skills, exercise and helping the development of a well

:28:45.:28:48.

rounded individual. They also hired, and I quote, Scotland what to

:28:49.:28:53.

deliver activities that sport Scotland think should be free of

:28:54.:28:57.

charge. Many local authorities to charge. Does the Cabinet Secretary

:28:58.:29:00.

Italy with was neither charging for this type of activity the very

:29:01.:29:04.

pupils most in need of this type of opportunity are the most likely to

:29:05.:29:08.

be excluded, making it more difficult to close the health and

:29:09.:29:12.

quality gap, the attainment gap, and what can the Government do so that

:29:13.:29:15.

access for all means exactly that? I agree with his point and I agree

:29:16.:29:26.

fundamentally that out-of-school activity can have a profound impact

:29:27.:29:33.

on the achievement of young people, and help them to overcome many

:29:34.:29:40.

difficulties that they may face? When we get into territory which I

:29:41.:29:44.

have explored before with him and some of his colleagues, about what

:29:45.:29:47.

is the right level of direction for government, about what goes on?

:29:48.:29:54.

Because if I start directing, local authorities must do this, must do

:29:55.:29:57.

that, I don't want to put words into the mouths of the Conservatives, but

:29:58.:30:01.

there might be some complaints that I am interfering in local government

:30:02.:30:05.

business. So, there is a sensitive balance to be struck about what

:30:06.:30:08.

should be the level of government direction in this respect. I

:30:09.:30:14.

certainly have no difficulty in supporting the aspirations set out

:30:15.:30:19.

in this question, and I would encourage local authorities, working

:30:20.:30:23.

within the guidance which we have already issued, in 2014, to ensure

:30:24.:30:28.

that the ambitions which Mr Whittle has set out can be realised. Can I

:30:29.:30:41.

remind members, I am the PLO to the Cabinet Secretary? Is governed is

:30:42.:30:45.

investing an additional ?750 million to close the attainment gap, while

:30:46.:30:51.

in England, the Public Accounts Committee has warned of schools

:30:52.:30:57.

having to cut spending, directly affect on extracurricular

:30:58.:30:59.

opportunities, according to headteachers in England. Would the

:31:00.:31:03.

Deputy First Minister agree that if we want to protect our children's

:31:04.:31:08.

education from Tory education cuts, then they need to vote SNP tomorrow

:31:09.:31:11.

in the Local Government Act edge and is? A very brief answer to that! I

:31:12.:31:22.

have to agree! Back in the real world, can I ask, for what reason

:31:23.:31:28.

has there been a 62% reduction in the number of places for

:31:29.:31:34.

postgraduate and diplomas? No such reduction has taken place. . That is

:31:35.:31:42.

an interesting response. We do of course know that there are currently

:31:43.:31:46.

274 vacant primary school teaching posts across Scotland. And we know

:31:47.:31:52.

that many councils and head teachers believe that there will be

:31:53.:31:55.

additional teachers required on top of that as a result of equity

:31:56.:31:59.

funding potentially being spent on more teachers. The universities are

:32:00.:32:06.

saying that they have difficulties in relation to future planning

:32:07.:32:09.

because of a potential reduction in the number of training places. Can

:32:10.:32:14.

the Cabinet Secretary guarantee that not only will there be no reduction

:32:15.:32:18.

in training places available, but that there will be an increase, in

:32:19.:32:23.

order to make up for the shortage of teachers that we have? The point

:32:24.:32:31.

that Mr Fraser makes about the employment, the recruitment of

:32:32.:32:36.

teachers for postgraduate diploma in education is an important

:32:37.:32:41.

contribution to establishing the strength of the teaching population

:32:42.:32:44.

in Scotland. I reiterate my answer from earlier on, that there has been

:32:45.:32:49.

no reduction of 62% in the target number of post graduate faces

:32:50.:32:54.

between the two years quoted. The Government has to go through an

:32:55.:32:59.

exercise with the Teacher Workforce Planning Advisory Group, which looks

:33:00.:33:05.

at a range of factors, including local demand, the number of teachers

:33:06.:33:09.

returning to the profession and the number of students not completing

:33:10.:33:13.

their course, before making any decisions on these targets for

:33:14.:33:16.

future years. That is why the premise of Mr Fraser's question is

:33:17.:33:21.

wrong. I have acknowledged in a previous answer that shortages exist

:33:22.:33:27.

in the number of teachers available. That's why this year I increased the

:33:28.:33:33.

intake into teacher training by 370 places to which we will continue to

:33:34.:33:36.

look at these issues as we plan for the years ahead. I'm acutely aware

:33:37.:33:42.

that as we deploy more equity funding around the country, there

:33:43.:33:45.

will be the possibility of more opportunities for teacher

:33:46.:33:48.

recruitment, and the Government will bear that in mind as we set the

:33:49.:33:52.

target for postgraduate diploma education places. The Cabinet

:33:53.:33:58.

Secretary will be aware that the First Minister put Ruth Davidson in

:33:59.:34:03.

her place when she pointed out that these leaflets show just how much

:34:04.:34:09.

the Conservative Party care about education, despite the fact that

:34:10.:34:15.

they go on about it all the time. Will the Cabinet is a good read

:34:16.:34:17.

agree with me that this disregard for education shows that the

:34:18.:34:27.

Conservatives, are more capable of running a... , as they would say in

:34:28.:34:33.

Glasgow, than they are of running a local authority? I thought he made

:34:34.:34:37.

the point extremely well at question time today. The Government is

:34:38.:34:41.

focused for taking the necessary steps to strengthen education in

:34:42.:34:46.

Scotland. That will be at the heart of our reform agenda. To ask the

:34:47.:34:50.

Scottish governor and what percentage of schools leavers in

:34:51.:34:56.

north Ayrshire in 2016 and renewed in education, went on to training or

:34:57.:35:05.

entered employment? In October 20 94.8% of senior school leavers in

:35:06.:35:09.

north Ayrshire went to a positive destination. SNP policies help young

:35:10.:35:18.

people in north Ayrshire into work, education and training and have

:35:19.:35:21.

delivered the lowest youth unemployment rate in the UK. Planned

:35:22.:35:26.

training cuts will hurt young people further. Does the minister agree

:35:27.:35:29.

with me that voting SNP in the upcoming local and general election

:35:30.:35:34.

is the only way to keep Theresa May in check and make the voice of

:35:35.:35:43.

Scotland heard? Minister, I would recommend you stick to education,

:35:44.:35:47.

rather than voting advice. Of course I will stick to education advice. It

:35:48.:35:54.

is a very good point, they will have seen the figures, they will know

:35:55.:35:57.

that we have made significant progress over the last five years in

:35:58.:36:00.

terms of positive destinations across all socioeconomic groups, but

:36:01.:36:06.

the greatest progress has been amongst the 20%. We know that by

:36:07.:36:17.

2021, some 50,000 families in Scotland could be affected by the

:36:18.:36:23.

two child on tax credits, pushing more young people into poverty

:36:24.:36:30.

directive. In Scotland, we will continue to respond, and as an

:36:31.:36:35.

administration, we have committed ?750 million over these five years,

:36:36.:36:43.

and more than ?4 million for this financial year through pupil equity

:36:44.:36:45.

funding for North Ayrshire. We will do all we can. We need a strong and

:36:46.:36:50.

effective voice in other play is as well. Could the minister confirm

:36:51.:36:58.

that when the positive destination statistics, such as those he just

:36:59.:37:04.

spoke about, as in recorded, school leavers moving into a job on a

:37:05.:37:07.

zero-hours contract are accounted as positive destinations? Well, what I

:37:08.:37:13.

would say to Mr Gray is that we don't have control over employment

:37:14.:37:18.

law. We in Scotland are fortunate that we have the smallest proportion

:37:19.:37:23.

of the workforce on zero-hours contracts, lower than the UK level.

:37:24.:37:29.

Clearly, anyone entering employment is ending up in a positive

:37:30.:37:33.

destination. Mr Gray will well understand our high ambitions for

:37:34.:37:38.

work here in Scotland. We have published our labour market

:37:39.:37:43.

strategy, and job we want to see in the future will be well remunerated

:37:44.:37:47.

and will of course contribute to that fair work challenge, and I look

:37:48.:37:52.

forward to Mr Gray signing up to that progress. For those leaving

:37:53.:37:58.

school who choose not to go to further education, there must be

:37:59.:38:00.

other opportunities available to them. But in North Ayrshire,

:38:01.:38:04.

unemployment is significantly higher than in the rest of the UK recent

:38:05.:38:12.

figures putting it at 11.6%. So, what confidence can make young

:38:13.:38:15.

people of north Ayrshire have in this government, that after ten

:38:16.:38:20.

years, the SNP is really taking the issue of unemployment seriously?

:38:21.:38:23.

Well, they can have a lot more confidence than they can in the UK

:38:24.:38:30.

Government, who, of course, have cut funding available to the Scottish

:38:31.:38:37.

Government by some 87%, resulting in ours having to leverage an

:38:38.:38:42.

additional ?20 million. We are doing a lot more to support young people

:38:43.:38:51.

in Ayrshire and elsewhere and the UK Government is. Thank you very much.

:38:52.:39:01.

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