Chamber and committees

I want to pick up on the point that Jackie Dunbar touched on in relation to the opening of the energy transition skills hub in Aberdeen. It is a fantastic example of a college moving forward in a time of skills shortages. However, NESCol warns of a key problem, as do many colleges, with college credits: indeed, it will get no credits for those additional courses and places and it will have to flex—hairdressing might have to be cut to have those potential courses delivered. What is your view on that? If we are to meet the challenge of those skills shortages, we need a different system for credits.

Thanks, convener.

I want to stick with the interests of your board members, because it is quite clear that some of those individuals are principals of institutions that are in financial difficulty. What policy does the Scottish Funding Council have in relation to those individuals and discussions about their institutions with regard to any conflicts of interest?

Good morning. I have a couple of questions about colleges. You will probably have heard over both panel sessions about the real concern that exists for our college sector. The report, which is really stark, mentions four institutions that are facing financial difficulty. I have been on the committee since November, and it feels as though our college sector is the Cinderella of our education system. I want to see that change, and I hope that the minister does as well. Minister, what assessment have you made since your appointment—that might be literally over the weekend—of where the college sector is, what you want to see change over the next six months, and what opportunities there are to get the sector into a much stronger place?

We heard in our first evidence session today about the impact that college credits are having. I note that the First Minister was in Aberdeen this week to open the energy transition skills hub and I welcome that. I have met with the college there, and committee members regularly promote the hub.

Are you looking at a fundamental review of how college credits are being provided? That is one of the big asks of every college that I have spoken to. I am sure that there is a better way of making sure that we are meeting the skills gap in our economy by doing something specifically with credits. Is that something that you are starting to look at?

Thank you.

Last week, we heard from Kate Sanger about her daughter, Laura. The petitioner, Beth Morrison, and her son, Calum, have driven the campaign. What would you say to them? In both cases, the children are non-verbal. They have returned home with physical marks, and their subsequent behaviours have resulted in challenging situations for the family and also when they go back into education. Saying that we need more guidance and that we should wait and see is not enough for the campaigners. Policies have clearly failed that group of children and young people. Why have we not been recording the incidents? Why has best practice not been put in place to tell parents what has been going on?

My final question is about the role that the inspectorate has played to date in considering this issue. Where do you see it acting in future to support schools on training, so that restraint is used properly, and on the recording of incidents? There are past and future elements to that question.

As I said on the record last week, it is interesting that the Care Inspectorate has reported a 40 per cent reduction in the use of seclusion in the institutions that it inspects.

I thank the Labour Party for holding a debate on mobile phone use in schools. The Scottish Conservatives held a similar debate in January this year, and I am pleased that, since then, other parties—and, indeed, the cabinet secretary herself—have moved towards supporting our call for a national ban on the use of mobile phones in classrooms. We are clear that there is growing concern about behaviours in our classrooms, and mobile phones are often at the heart of those behaviours.

As Pam Duncan-Glancy said, our classrooms must be safe spaces for pupils to learn in and teachers and classroom assistants to teach in, but, for so many of our young people, they are not. Concentration is a key thing that we must ensure is restored. Many schools can be and are great learning environments for our young people and great environments for teachers to deliver the lessons that we all want to be delivered. However, we also need to make sure that standards are set.

Last week, I was delighted to visit Leith academy, which I know that the cabinet secretary also visited last week. I welcome what the school is doing to support its pupils, some of whom I welcomed to Parliament yesterday. I have been really impressed by the work that the school is doing on pupils’ expectations with regard to mobile phone use in classrooms. Most schools can manage expectations in that way.

However, in too many cases, our school environments have become toxic, with students and teachers experiencing stress, bullying and other negative behaviours, and mobile phone use is often at the heart of that. Action must be taken to ensure that poor behaviour in the classroom has consequences, and we must look towards not allowing pupils to have phones out in classrooms. I therefore welcome the fact that there now seems to be a clear consensus across Parliament on our desire to send out the clear message that we want mobile phone use in classrooms to be banned and that we want all 32 councils to move towards implementing such a ban.

As has been stated, here in the capital, City of Edinburgh Council is leading by example. I welcome the fact that Conservative councillors have secured a ban on mobile phones in Edinburgh’s primary schools, which will be introduced in November. In addition, two secondary schools—Portobello high and Queensferry high—have piloted the issuing of special sealed wallets, which, once sealed, require a magnetic pad to unlock them. That allows pupils to keep their phones in the classroom. That is an expensive solution to the problem, and I know from speaking to staff that the additional staff support that is needed to seal and unseal the wallets is problematic. I am open to different approaches being taken, and I think that headteachers should be at the heart of that work. All schools already try to manage the situation, and their headteachers have policies on the issue.

The Scottish Conservatives have led the debate on our toxic school environments. We have called for a reset on that, and I hope that ministers have started to listen. I hope, too, that Parliament will continue to listen to some of the commonsense views of teachers, parents and our young people that we have brought to Parliament. I welcome the progress that has been made in delivering some of the changes that we want to see, such as the review of additional support for learning, which we secured in May. Ultimately, we want Parliament to send out the message that we want there to be a national ban on mobile phone use in classrooms, and that we want all councils to work to progress that. That is what my amendment seeks to achieve.

I move amendment S6M-19123.1, to leave out from “banned” to end and insert:

“subject to a clear national ban in classrooms, recognising the strong evidence of how distracting they are and how disruptive they can be to pupils’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to teach; acknowledges that while headteachers and local authorities have some powers to restrict the use of mobile phones, existing Scottish guidance is weak, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to update its guidance with clear national direction on what is expected.”

Will the member give way?