Chamber and committees

What systems are in place at the moment? Do we have any update? How do health workers get involved? Basically, what systems are in place just now?

Is there potential for a new bill, similar to Daniel Johnson’s member’s bill—which became the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021—that would cover transport workers, including private hire and tax drivers?

On the independent reviews.

How will an advocate for the member’s concerned community be appointed or nominated? Will it be Scottish Government officials or a spokesperson from the community? We need clarification of that.

The other question is whether the final report will be published.

Yes.

I agree with Mr Stewart. The training programme is not mandatory, but it should be—the issue affects half of our population.

I am glad that the Scottish Government is finally taking charge of the future of education in Scotland. Our education sector has been racked by 16 years of SNP failure. The SNP has failed to support teachers and pupils with additional support needs, and it has failed to update an outdated and narrowing curriculum.

I have a lot to get through.

As some of my colleagues have pointed out, the number of teachers has fallen over the past 16 years—since 2007, the number has fallen by 907. The Scottish Government has not yet delivered on its promise to hire 3,500 teachers and pupil support assistants, which is putting a strain on teachers and pupils and is having a negative impact on class sizes.

Teachers were also promised 90 minutes of non-contact time per week, but the Scottish Government has made little progress in meeting that promise. Teachers in our education system need to be valued and given time to think about and plan their teaching and learning outcomes.

Teachers are not the only ones in our schools who are struggling. Pupil support assistants provide essential support for children’s education and social development, but there is currently a crisis in the recruitment and retention of PSAs. That is primarily due to PSAs being underpaid and undertrained to deal with the demands of the job. PSAs often work with children with additional support needs without adequate training or support, and that further exacerbates the lack of support available to children with additional support needs. A lack of PSAs in classrooms can create unsafe working conditions and decrease attainment for children. However, the Scottish Government has yet to outline exactly how it plans to support that vital role in schools, on which both teachers and pupils heavily rely.

Last week in Parliament, a debate took place on violence in schools. Violence from children towards other pupils or staff is often left to pupil support assistants to handle; I have heard stories from constituents about the daily violence that they experience in the workplace as PSAs. They are often the ones who deal with the brunt of violent behaviour and relieve classes of violent disruptions, yet they receive little support or training on how to effectively deal with violence in their workplace, which, once again, causes many to leave the profession.

The Scottish Government must move forward with showing teachers and support staff that they are listened to and valued in our education system; only then can we begin to improve the situation.

There needs to be some development, too, in the curriculum that is being taught in our schools. The narrowing of the curriculum for excellence does not effectively prepare young people for the future. Our education system should prepare children and young people to deal with the major social, economic, cultural, personal and political challenges that are present in the 21st century. The current curriculum for excellence is ill equipped to teach young people about that important aspect of life.

The Scottish Government’s recently announced Scottish connections framework addresses the need to deal with the more difficult parts of Scotland’s history, including colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade. That commitment to address the atrocities of the past needs to be done at home, too, and in our schools. Through learning about the past and Scotland’s role in it, young people can be more open to, and understanding of, the racial, cultural and gender inequalities that still exist in Scotland today. In that way, we can send young people away from the education system more tolerant and with a better understanding of the social challenges that they might face outside of school.

Progress on the Government’s reform of education is welcome. However, it cannot be another broken promise; if anything is to be fixed, the Scottish Government simply must recognise what the past 16 years have done to our education system.

The situation in Sudan is not improving. Almost 1 million people have been displaced just one month into the conflict, and neighbouring countries are already overwhelmed with refugees. What discussions has the Scottish Government had with the UK Government about the possible influx of refugees coming from Sudan if the conflict continues indefinitely?