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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 | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
communities who want to access university medical courses? | :00:49. | :00:57. | |
Minister. The Scottish Government supports a number of initiatives to | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
encourage island communities to access high demand professions such | :01:03. | :01:07. | |
as medicine clinic in March this year, we also announced funding of | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
?330,000 to deliver pre-emptive courses to medicine, being a key | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
component of Aberdeen university. The Scottish funding council | :01:20. | :01:21. | |
provides additional funding to universities to help improve access | :01:22. | :01:27. | |
to high demand professions. There is a reach programme to each medical | :01:28. | :01:31. | |
school in Scotland to assist pupils from local aggression schools who | :01:32. | :01:39. | |
wish to access medical courses. Can I thank the minister for that | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
response? She will recognise that recruiting and training staff to | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
island services presents specific challenges. Getting to medical | :01:48. | :01:56. | |
school is difficult, but pupils need to believe they can achieve it, | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
otherwise they will not apply. Work experience is essential, but not | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
easy. For many students, there are confidence unity issues. Travel can | :02:06. | :02:11. | |
cost ?1000 or more and take students out of school for two or three days, | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
at a time when they need to be focused on getting the five Grade As | :02:17. | :02:25. | |
that they need. Agree that there will be further steps which can be | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
taken to level the playing field even more, to improve the access of | :02:29. | :02:38. | |
Ireland people's to medical courses? I would readily agree with the | :02:39. | :02:44. | |
premise of the MacArthur's point. I discussed this very challenge when I | :02:45. | :02:54. | |
was at Glasgow university recently. As I mentioned in my original | :02:55. | :03:02. | |
answer, there is a pre-medical entry programme which looks at remote | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
communities. We also have a graduate entry medical programme, which again | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
ensures that remote and rural focus is given to those people going | :03:14. | :03:20. | |
through that course, and I'm aware of other collaborations which | :03:21. | :03:28. | |
continue with the NHS to ensure that clearing events and other events are | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
taking place in school, to ensure that those in remote and island | :03:34. | :03:39. | |
communities can access the Didi information and encouragement that | :03:40. | :03:42. | |
we would expect in any of our schools. I am happy to carry on the | :03:43. | :03:50. | |
dialogue with Liam McArthur if he thinks there are particular aspects | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
in his constituency. How does you a giant's compass model help islanders | :03:57. | :04:03. | |
train as health care professionals. We know it is easier... | :04:04. | :04:16. | |
UHI is a key partner, we are taking steps to improve access in rural | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
areas. As I mentioned, the graduate entry programme was announced in | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
delivered by the medical schools of delivered by the medical schools of | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
St Andrews and Dundee, in collaboration with the University Of | :04:34. | :04:35. | |
Highlands And Islands. It will provide students with exposure to | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
the issues and will help deliver a more sustainable health workforce | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
for Scotland and its rural communities. With regard to nursing | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
and midwifery, the University of Stirling will transfer 100 | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
registrations to UHI from next year. And I look forward to visiting | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
Inverness to see that work when I go up to Inverness in October. To ask | :05:01. | :05:10. | |
the Scottish Government when the 20 14th guide and is on school meals | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
will be reviewed? There are currently no plans to review that | :05:15. | :05:22. | |
guidance. 2008 guidance, healthy eating in schools, will be updated | :05:23. | :05:25. | |
following any changes coming out of the review of the nutritional | :05:26. | :05:32. | |
requirements of food and Greg in schools. The programme supports | :05:33. | :05:42. | |
schools in food education. It is unlikely to be required to be | :05:43. | :05:45. | |
updated in the light of the review of the nutritional standards. One | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
concern I have in my area is that very often, when parents make | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
complaints about what they consider to be the nutritional standard of | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
school meals, that government guidance is voted back almost as if | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
it were regulation, and that the local authority was hidebound in | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
what they were able to offer. Can the Cabinet Secretary confirm that | :06:12. | :06:16. | |
it is in fact guidance and not regulation? Presiding Officer, we do | :06:17. | :06:27. | |
provide guidance of the type Healthy Eating In Schools and Better Eating, | :06:28. | :06:35. | |
Better Learning. It is designed to support local authorities in their | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
schools programme. But local authorities do have flexibility to | :06:41. | :06:44. | |
provide food and print services as they deem appropriate to meet local | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
needs and priorities, dividing they have first fulfilled their statutory | :06:51. | :06:57. | |
obligations in this respect. The legislation to produce the highest | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
quality of produce under the highest animal welfare protocols, ensuring a | :07:03. | :07:09. | |
living wage in the countryside. In producing produce for schools, we | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
find that the central government contract is importing foodstuffs | :07:14. | :07:16. | |
from all over the world which can be produced and is produced, to a | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
higher standard, by our own farmers. Can we make it sure that local food | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
makes it onto the plates of our schoolchildren for the sake of their | :07:28. | :07:30. | |
health, and in support of the local economy? This was something which my | :07:31. | :07:37. | |
colleague was dealing with when he was the Rural Affairs Secretary. He | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
invested a significant amount of time to work with me in my former | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
responsibility, in procurement, to make sure that we had as much effort | :07:47. | :07:50. | |
and opportunity for the farming community within Scotland to be able | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
to access procurement contracts at a general level within Scotland, but | :07:56. | :08:01. | |
obviously food contracts being a substantial proportion of that. In | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
principle, I am in agreement about the importance of ensuring that the | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
quality agricultural produce in Scotland can find its way into the | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
procurement contracts in the public sector, and particularly into our | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
schools. As part of the learning experience, I am also very keen that | :08:20. | :08:23. | |
young people have an understanding of the origins and routes by which | :08:24. | :08:26. | |
food is produced to enable that better understanding as part of the | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
health and well-being aspect of the curriculum which is undertaken in | :08:31. | :08:37. | |
our schools. To ask the Scottish Government what measures it has | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
taken to ensure that schools can fill teacher vacancies? The | :08:43. | :08:45. | |
Government has taken a number of actions to help recruit teachers. We | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
are spending ?88 million this year to make sure every school has access | :08:51. | :08:52. | |
to the right number of teachers. We have increased student intake | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
targets for the sixth year in a row. And we are setting targets to train | :08:58. | :09:00. | |
teachers in the subjects where they are needed most. We are also | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
supporting innovative new routes into teaching. We launched a new | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
teacher recruitment campaign on the 8th of February, under the title | :09:10. | :09:13. | |
Teaching Meets People. This builds on the success of last year's | :09:14. | :09:21. | |
Inspiring Teachers campaign. Clearly, none of that is working, | :09:22. | :09:24. | |
because the Cabinet Secretary will be aware that there are 700 current | :09:25. | :09:32. | |
teacher vacancies, and this is having a direct impact on children's | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
education. In addition, there is a market increase in head teachers are | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
being asked to look after more than one school and this is becoming the | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
norm in some areas. How on earth can they look after their school when | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
they are not there on a daily basis? How far we allow one excellent | :09:50. | :09:52. | |
education service fall before the Government acts? Let me address a | :09:53. | :10:00. | |
number of the points which she makes. " I recognise that there are | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
shortages in the viability of teachers in certain parts of the | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
country and in certain subjects. I set out a number of the steps which | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
the Government is taking to try to rectify that. This year alone we | :10:14. | :10:16. | |
have increased the number of places available for teacher training by | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
370 two begin to address those issues. The whole process of what we | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
are planning is a complex and difficult process, and quite | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
clearly, shortages are arising out of that. I can also assure her that | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
I have had discussions with the General Teaching Council For | :10:40. | :10:47. | |
Scotland, who regularly... To ensure that where there are registered | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
teachers who are not currently active in teaching, they are being | :10:52. | :10:54. | |
contacted to try to motivate them to become active in teaching. And also, | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
the General Teaching Council takes an efficient approach to teaching | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
applications, to assess and evaluate the contribution teachers can make | :11:06. | :11:10. | |
to a schools education if they would wish to do so. The second issue was | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
about the fact that some headteachers may be operating across | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
more than one school. I disagree fundamentally with her about this | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
particular point. I think where we have exceptional head teachers, with | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
the right support models in place, I think it is perfectly possible and | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
tangible for those headteachers to be able to deploy their skills | :11:36. | :11:38. | |
across more than one school. For example, in the city of Glasgow, one | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
head teacher of a large secondary school, St Andrews secondary school | :11:44. | :11:50. | |
in the East End of Glasgow, regarded as one of the most experienced and | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
effective headteachers in the country, has been invited by the | :11:55. | :11:56. | |
director of education in Glasgow City Council to provide leadership | :11:57. | :12:04. | |
at the same time at Holyrood secondary school. My response to | :12:05. | :12:08. | |
that was to say that I thought it was advantageous for pupils in many | :12:09. | :12:14. | |
parts of our country to experience distinguished and effectively to | :12:15. | :12:20. | |
ship in education. It has to be properly supported, I accept that. | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
But I think the arrangements that we put in place in that example, by | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
Glasgow City Council, I fully support and endorse because I think | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
they are beneficial for the young people in Scotland. Can the Cabinet | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
Secretary outline that progress is being made to develop new routes | :12:38. | :12:44. | |
into teaching? Presiding Officer, at my instigation, there were a number | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
of new projects identified to encourage teachers to enter the | :12:50. | :12:55. | |
teaching profession. The General Teaching Council Is Assessing 11 Of | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
Those Particular Routes And Some Of That Assessment Is Now Complete, And | :13:00. | :13:02. | |
We Are Able To Recruit Teachers On The Basis Of Those New routes into | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
teaching. It is an example of where the Government has responded | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
positively and provided innovative approaches, and I woke the input we | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
have had from the College of education. The Cabinet Secretary at | :13:17. | :13:24. | |
knowledge is that feeling teaching vacancies quite often takes time. | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
Sometimes, supply teachers can be used when a teacher is absent. | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
Supply teachers are falling -- supply teacher numbers. So what | :13:36. | :13:37. | |
urgent action is the Scottish devilment taking to deal with supply | :13:38. | :13:39. | |
teacher numbers? The measures set out to contact | :13:40. | :13:54. | |
registered teachers who are not currently active in teaching but | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
could contribute in some way to the supply pool, is one of the most | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
significant areas that we can take action in this respect. The question | :14:05. | :14:10. | |
that Mr Kirk raises is one which highlights the general challenge | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
that exists in that this issue. Just before the Easter recess, I spent | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
two days at the international summit on the teaching profession. Mike two | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
predecessors took part in that summit in New Zealand and Canada. I | :14:25. | :14:31. | |
took part of it in Morrison Street in Edinburgh. The chamber will | :14:32. | :14:44. | |
understand how Morrison Street is in comparison to New Zealand and | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
Canada. In all the countries represented at the summit, and it | :14:50. | :14:54. | |
was clear from my counterpart in England and Singapore, and Finland, | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
and in Canada, and in New Zealand, in very highly regarded education | :15:01. | :15:04. | |
systems, there is a systemic challenge of recruiting individuals | :15:05. | :15:08. | |
to the teaching profession which is not just the Scottish issue. We have | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
to think inventively and creatively how we can motivate more people to | :15:14. | :15:20. | |
come into the teaching profession. Part of my general work is to raise | :15:21. | :15:24. | |
the credibility and value and esteem of the teaching profession as young | :15:25. | :15:27. | |
people will need to have a good flow of individuals entering the | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
profession to deliver the education on which they depend. To ask the | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
Scottish Government whether it will provide an update to Parliament | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
whether it will publish a new anti-bullying strategy for schools. | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
The Government will issue a refreshed anti-bullying guidance | :15:48. | :15:55. | |
when the equality and human rights Committee has finished its | :15:56. | :15:57. | |
investigation into bullying in schools. I am grateful to the | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
Committee to consider further evidence and we will consider the | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
views and any further evidence gathered prior to the publication of | :16:06. | :16:08. | |
the strategy. Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
Every good strategy needs a vision. It needs a plan of vision and | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
allocation of appropriate resources as well. Bullying is not confined to | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
young people and schools alone, does the Cabinet Secretary consider that | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
the cut by over 1000 in classroom assistants and the cut by over 4000 | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
of teachers and Scottish classrooms since his Party took office will | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
help or hinder the effective implementation of this delayed | :16:39. | :16:45. | |
anti-bullying strategy? The first thing is to say, Mr Leonard uses the | :16:46. | :16:55. | |
word delayed. The House I am being censored but it was used in a | :16:56. | :17:04. | |
pejorative way. The Government responded to a Committee positively. | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
I could publish the strategy months ago but the Committee asked if I | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
would delay it until they took further evidence. I felt that was | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
the respectful thing for me to do was to delay publication and to hear | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
what the Committee had to say to me. I have given way to him. I am | :17:21. | :17:25. | |
grateful for the effort she has given on the subject. We recognise | :17:26. | :17:34. | |
that appropriate resources being in place to support young people in all | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
other schools, Mr Leonard can be assured that the heart of this | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
strategy will be intolerance of bullying of any young people in | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
schools or in any aspect of our society, or in any situation in our | :17:49. | :17:52. | |
society. The Government will map out how we will take that forward after | :17:53. | :17:59. | |
engagement with stakeholders and the parliamentary Committee. To ask the | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
Scottish Government report requirements and local authorities | :18:04. | :18:05. | |
have to provide children with the basic tools of learning at school. | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
Education authorities have a duty under the education Scotland act | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
1980, to provide books, writing materials, stationery, mathematical | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
instruments, practice material and other articles necessary to enable | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
pupils who receive education through public schools or other | :18:27. | :18:29. | |
arrangements, to take full advantage of education. Thank you for that | :18:30. | :18:36. | |
answer. The statutory duty of councils to provide books and | :18:37. | :18:39. | |
materials, the Cabinet Secretary may be aware that YouTube decisions | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
taken by the independent counsel, Fortrose have had to find some basic | :18:45. | :18:51. | |
school provisions. In light of the election tomorrow, what is the | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
Cabinet Secretary's view on this and how education can be the top | :18:56. | :18:58. | |
priority for the next administration? I reiterate my | :18:59. | :19:05. | |
earlier answer in which statute could not be clearer on this. | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
Education authorities have duty under the education Scotland act to | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
provide books, writing materials, stationery, mathematical materials, | :19:17. | :19:19. | |
practice materials and other resources to allow people is to | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
receive free education. That is the statutory duty. In relation to the | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
resources available, Highland Council for 17-18 received an | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
increase of over ?20 million for the resources available to it, an | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
additional 4.4% increase on its budget in 2016-17. They will be | :19:43. | :19:49. | |
decisions that the Highland Council has to make about the allocation of | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
its resources. That backdrop drop indicates that a very strong | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
settlement has been delivered by the headland council to enable it to | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
properly fund education. Across the Highlands, the has-been 3000 -- | :20:04. | :20:11. | |
three million 924000 pounds and people equity funding which has been | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
delivered in schools and Fortrose Academy has received ?30,000. I | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
would hope that the local authority working in partnership with the | :20:21. | :20:23. | |
school would take the necessary resource and decisions against a | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
strong settlement from the Government to fund education. Either | :20:27. | :20:33. | |
that the Cabinet Secretary to the report published by the accounts | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
commission in March that local in Scotland challenges report, they | :20:40. | :20:41. | |
said it spent four people figures that show since 2010, spending in | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
secondary schools by people has fallen by over ?550 and primary | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
schools, it is 500 people -- ?500 per pupil since 2010. That is almost | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
10%. Does the Cabinet Secretary recognise those numbers and does | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
that look the overall funding levels that have been cut by ?1.5 billion. | :21:04. | :21:10. | |
What Mr Johnson needs to look out for is the analysis that the | :21:11. | :21:13. | |
accounts commission undertook. I think it was published... It must be | :21:14. | :21:19. | |
just before the turn of the year where the accounts commission said | :21:20. | :21:22. | |
that the funding settlement for local authorities had been largely | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
on par with the funding settlement received by the Scottish Government. | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
The Scottish Government has treated very fairly local Government within | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
the resources available to the Scottish Government. As I indicated | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
as an example in response to the question that Kay Forbes gave, | :21:41. | :21:49. | |
Highland Council receives an extra 4.4% in 2016-17. And the current | :21:50. | :21:52. | |
financial climate that would be viewed as a strong boost to local | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
authority funding and the Government is delighted to make that available | :21:58. | :21:59. | |
to the Highland Council and any authority and any authority in the | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
country. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
an update on what action it is taking to improve literacy rates. | :22:10. | :22:12. | |
The Scottish Government is taking a wide range of action to improve | :22:13. | :22:16. | |
literacy rates across all age groups. This includes action in the | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
early years through the significant expansion of heavy learning and | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
child care, the relentless focus on literacy and numeracy through the | :22:25. | :22:27. | |
attainment challenge, supported by people equity funding. The expansion | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
of programmes such as the First Minister's Reading challenge. The | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
new literacy and English benchmarks and the international standardised | :22:38. | :22:39. | |
assessments will support robust assessment of young people's | :22:40. | :22:45. | |
process. -- progress. Thank you for the answer. I should have said at | :22:46. | :22:52. | |
the beginning that I do fear members as a dash to the register of | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
interest, I am still a councillor in South Lanarkshire. The last time I | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
get to see that. The reason support in the Times newspaper reveals that | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
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 | :23:11. | :23:19. | |
been cut since 2010. The chartered Institute of library and information | :23:20. | :23:22. | |
specialist repair themselves to the Cabinet Secretary. Given the decline | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
in professionally staffed libraries, can the Cabinet Secretary explained | :23:27. | :23:30. | |
how his aim of closing the attainment gap between the richest | :23:31. | :23:33. | |
and poorest children in Scotland will be achieved? This is a very | :23:34. | :23:41. | |
emotional afternoon for us all. It is the last time that Monica Lennon | :23:42. | :23:44. | |
will share with us the fact that she is a member of South Lanarkshire | :23:45. | :23:51. | |
Council and I am sure there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
teeth as a consequence of this auspicious moment being passed. In | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
relation to the substance of her question, I value enormously the | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
role of school libraries. I was recently in the public commissions | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
-- public petitions Committee where a petition was held about the | :24:09. | :24:16. | |
concern of... I took forward a national strategy for public | :24:17. | :24:20. | |
libraries which will be -- will reinforce the view that I hold that | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
school libraries are crucial to the development and capability of young | :24:25. | :24:29. | |
people. If you months ago, the Member for Murray invited me to | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
visit Elgin Academy. When I went there the first place that the | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
headteacher took me was to the library. The purpose of why that was | :24:38. | :24:45. | |
the case... Because the school library had been configured and led | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
by a very effective librarian and designed in a fashion to be the | :24:50. | :24:53. | |
epicentre of the school where many good things happened and many | :24:54. | :25:00. | |
contributions to the young people, the well-being of young people were | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
delivered between older and younger pupils and the Academy. It is one of | :25:05. | :25:11. | |
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 | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
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 | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
final time I would like to declare an interest as a councillor on | :25:39. | :25:42. | |
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 | :25:53. | :25:55. | |
to get back to the day job, making sure that children can read and | :25:56. | :25:58. | |
write properly and admit that under this Government, the implementation | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
of CFCs as many children leaving primary school not properly equipped | :26:05. | :26:17. | |
for secondary school. -- CFE. The departure of prof Thomson from the | :26:18. | :26:20. | |
council in Aberdeen tomorrow, they will be weeping and wailing and | :26:21. | :26:26. | |
gnashing of teeth about other issues handled by Aberdeen City Council in | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
a spectacularly unceremonious fashion public vote. I am coming to | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
the question, Councillor Thompson, as I should paraphrase for last | :26:37. | :26:46. | |
time. The Government has addressed the First Minister with responses to | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
Ross Davidson today on some of the challenges that are experienced in | :26:52. | :26:53. | |
Scottish education and the Government is focused entirely on | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
addressing those. I do not think it is bluntly good enough for Mr | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
Thompson to come here and try to absolve himself of any | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
responsibility or contribution to the process. Mr Thomson has been the | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
vice convener of education for Aberdeen City Council. The statute | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
says that the local authorities are the ones that deliver education. My | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
question for Mr Thompson is, what is he been doing about it? As long | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
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. |