Chamber and committees

Good morning. I want to address the issue of foundation apprenticeships. The committee has heard concerns that the bill’s definition of apprenticeships could exclude foundation apprenticeships. Can you tell us what you think the future of foundation apprenticeships will be?

Okay—I will leave that for now.

During our evidence sessions, concerns have been raised about potential changes to the delivery of future student support, although the SAAS and the SFC have stated that colleges will retain their role in distributing support. What assurances can you give that colleges will have an on-going role in that regard?

Are you saying that it is a second-class apprenticeship?

To go back to my question, do you see a future for foundation apprenticeships, and do you see them being of equal importance to modern apprenticeships and graduate apprenticeships? As you said, every bairn is different, so where do you see the future in that regard?

So, it is an apprenticeship but it is also not an apprenticeship.

Some 38 per cent of Scotland’s population have a long-term health condition. How is the Scottish Government working to ensure that the outcomes of the long-term conditions framework consultation will build a framework that cuts across all conditions but recognises when it is important to be more condition specific?

What reassurance can the Government provide to land managers on the implementation of this legislation and on seeing that NatureScot works with land managers timeously to ensure that the legislation is workable and that the vital management tool of burning is accessible?

Does the cabinet secretary agree that there is also a role for other partners in workforce planning—universities, for example—to ensure that we have the right allocation of teachers across the board?

I want every child in Scotland to get the best possible start in life, and education is an affa big part of that best start. We have great schools and we have excellent teachers. We have a very good education system and we are committed to making it even better.

However, our education system faces challenges. The first of those is mentioned in the motion. We cannot commend our teachers enough for the work that they do day in, day out, but, as we have heard, we have shortages of teachers in key subjects, especially in the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths. I know from my constituency, in which the energy sector is a major employer, that you can never have too many folk going into those areas and that STEM graduates are highly sought after.

It is from that same pool of graduates that we need to encourage folk to move into teaching. There is a big risk that that becomes a spiral: if fewer STEM teachers means fewer people studying those subjects at school, fewer folk will study them at university and there will be fewer graduates to recruit teachers from.

The biggest risk to education is the immigration policies that are campaigned for by Nigel Farage and delivered by Keir Starmer. However, I am keen to focus my speech on solutions, investment and positivity. In this financial year, our SNP Government is investing more than £4.3 billion in Scotland’s education system. I give Willie Rennie and his Lib Dem colleagues their due: unlike some members, they voted for the budget that delivered that funding.

Councils are getting £186.5 million this year to support the recruitment and retention of teachers. There is £29 million of investment from the Scottish Government for additional support needs, which will include support for the recruitment and retention of the ASN workforce. There is more than £100 million to support modern and foundation apprenticeships.

The Scottish Government’s teaching bursary scheme provides bursaries of £20,000 for career changers who wish to undertake a one-year professional graduate diploma in education in hard-to-fill STEM subjects, and the preference waiver scheme lets probationer teachers receive up to £8,000 on top of their probationary salary. That could see teachers receiving a salary of more than £40,000 for their first year in teaching. That is on top of support through pupil equity funding and tuition being kept free in Scotland, with no up-front tuition fees and no backdoor tuition fees.

What does that funding, and the funding from years gone by, mean in practice? It means that the number of schoolteachers in post in Scotland has increased by 6 per cent since 2014. The poverty-related gap for young folk leaving school and going on to a positive destination has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009. The number of Scots from the most deprived backgrounds entering university on full-time first degree courses is now up by 37 per cent. Around 400,000 apprenticeship opportunities have been provided to young folk across Scotland since 2008. Scotland’s teachers continue to be the best paid in the UK and Scotland has the lowest pupil-to-teacher ratio in these islands. Scotland has the highest school spending per pupil across these islands.

The SNP has invested in Scotland’s future. We are ensuring that young folk in Scotland receive a top-quality education and that they can get the best possible start in life. Long may that continue.