Chamber and committees

Good morning, and welcome to the 18th meeting in 2023 of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. Stephanie Callaghan has sent her apologies.

Our first item of business is consideration of subordinate legislation. The regulations—Scottish statutory instrument 2023/142—are being considered under the negative procedure. They will amend the Education (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 and the Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022, to include a new provision for individuals who have been granted a form of leave to enter or to remain in the UK.

The committee wrote to Graeme Dey, the Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans, for more information about the regulations and received a response. Some issues were still outstanding and we welcome him to give evidence on those today. He is joined by Nicola Nisbet, head of strategic policy at the Student Awards Agency Scotland, and by Magdalene Boyd of the Scottish Government legal directorate. I thank everyone for their attendance, particularly at such short notice.

We have agreed that the minister will make an opening statement before we move to questions from members.

Briefly.

I understand that; I am just trying to make your—

Thank you. Stephen Kerr is next. Briefly, please.

Briefly.

Welcome back. The committee must now decide whether it wishes to report on the negative instrument. This is when I look for members to speak.

Action needs to be taken now to support women who have been affected by transvaginal mesh-related health issues. The median wait for referral to the complex mesh surgical service in Glasgow is 236 days, and the longest wait is 448 days. Women then need to wait a significant length of time to start treatment that will alleviate their symptoms—or even remove them, if they are fortunate. Women with that debilitating and life-altering condition need help, now. What action is the Government taking to accelerate the provision of that vital treatment?

The SNP Government has presided over 16 years of failure in Scottish education, with the gap between the poorest and richest pupils widening and education standards dropping. The SNP has starved schools and staff of resources, and its curriculum for excellence has been a failure.

The publication of “All Learners in Scotland Matter: The National Discussion on Education” is welcome, and serves as a resounding call to action for the Scottish Government to prioritise urgent and meaningful reforms. In acknowledging the prevailing frustrations that Stephen Kerr mentioned in his speech, the cynicism and the anger stemming from unmet promises of reform in the past, the report instils a sense of doubt regarding the Government’s commitment to genuine and lasting change, and underscores the need for immediate action. The Government has fundamentally broken the education system in Scotland, and urgent action is required to address the problems.

The evidence that I hear from people when at committee, including on the attainment gap, which we see widening, and the dropping of regional, national and international statistics says something, and we need to acknowledge that.

I want to acknowledge that the people who work and volunteer in the sector, including parents, carers, young people and teachers are all ready to embrace the change that is needed and the reform that they are seeking. They are ready for significant change.

We have heard about the importance of a future Scottish education system that is welcoming and inclusive of all children and young people, including attention to early identification and adequate resources and specialist support to enable everyone to learn and flourish.

The Scottish Conservatives would encourage use of digital from the earliest stages of school and in all subjects—not just in the ones that are traditionally associated with information technology, such as computer science and administration. Our young people want to use technology in their learning, but teachers and pupil support assistants must be provided with continuing development opportunities to keep pace with the change—it is rapid—in how and what people are learning. We should also deliver a laptop or electronic device of some sort to every pupil, thereby eradicating the technology divide between rich and poor.

One of my constituents is a music teacher, and he has raised with me concerns about various discrepancies in music teaching across Edinburgh. He works in a number of primary schools across the city with the youth music initiative. Although he acknowledges the additional funding that has been announced for the youth music initiative, he does not believe that it is enough. That goes back to the extracurricular work that Liz Smith mentioned. We are already seeing a situation across the UK in which most of the young people who go on to study music at university are privately educated, because they are among the few people who receive adequate music education. The Scottish Conservatives’ new deal for teachers would allow more children to learn music.

Linked to music is the fact that it is now abundantly clear that the wellbeing and the health of children and young people is one of the most pressing and important issues in Scotland. Without proactively addressing wellbeing and mental health, attempts to improve learners’ achievement and attainment levels will be undermined.

We know that there is a growing need for support for children and young people, with most long-term mental health problems beginning in adolescence: 75 per cent of mental illnesses start before a person’s 18th birthday. Schools and colleges should be utilised to provide early preventative mental health support to children and young people across Scotland.

Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around us. Teaching mindfulness, and therefore resilience in our young people, will help them with the challenges that they face now and into the future. The nurturing and supportive environment in our education system must start as soon as possible. It makes our young kids more resilient, as I said. Through mindfulness, they can help to understand what is normal in terms of feelings. Being anxious and nervous is part of life; it is when that becomes overpowering that support and help are needed.

Currie primary school has nurture clubs, a worry box, a de-stress zone, and a time in the day for mindfulness colouring and calm music, just to relax. A focus on health and wellbeing and making sure that there is a safe space and available staff to support pupils who are struggling is important. People need a safe place to go and calm down and someone safe to speak to when they are upset, overwhelmed or angry.

Although we acknowledge that there are many policies, instances of good practice within schools, and supportive groups that already focus on the issue, from conversations with children and young people it is clear that much more needs to be done. A future education system must uphold norms, practices, and values right across the system in order to remove barriers to learning that young people encounter. The need for change is accepted by all those who are taking part in the discussion, so let us be brave and make the wholesale changes that are needed.

That is factually incorrect—