Chamber and committees

I appreciate what you are saying. Pardon me for using the wrong term. We acknowledge that children with additional support needs are a large cohort. I think that what drives some of the discussion of this issue is not that; it is the examples that people see of children and young people causing physical harm to other children and young people. I appreciate that all violence is caused by distressed behaviour.

Good morning, everyone. I appreciate all your experience, expertise and different perspectives.

I want to talk specifically about children for a wee while. Initially, I want to ask about and listen to you telling me about your perspectives on the factors and aspects that increase instances of violence and violent behaviour. Nick Smiley, you touched on some of that in your opening remarks. Can we look at that a bit more deeply?

I would then like to chat about potential solutions. Colin Morrison spoke about how having good relationships can be preventative and protective. Perhaps we could talk a bit about that as well.

Will the minister take an intervention?

Ten years on from the college regionalisation, the Education, Children and Young People Committee was keen to undertake an inquiry to examine how the structural changes were working in practice and explore to what extent the aims of regionalisation had been achieved. Those aims included: having an ambition for all young people over the age of 16 to stay in learning and achieve qualifications, improving their job prospects and earnings in the long term; removing course duplication and unnecessary competition for students between colleges and universities; having greater efficiency, while still supporting local delivery; and ensuring that the college landscape could meet current education, employment and skills challenges and respond rapidly to emerging scenarios.

We wanted to look at how well equipped colleges were to deliver what is required of them and to consider any further changes that might be of benefit to the college sector, learners and the communities that the sector serves. I am very grateful to the variety of organisations and individuals who provided written and oral evidence, sharing their experience and their insight into what was working well and where challenges and opportunities for improvement existed.

Colleges are institutions delivering on multiple critical fronts. They provide opportunities that allow people to develop skills to live more independently and that allow others to take their first steps back into formal education, helping some of those furthest away from the job market.

I have mentioned before the excellent work that Ayrshire College does in that regard. It has a very successful programme called project search, which runs in collaboration with partners at University hospital Crosshouse and the National Trust for Scotland at Culzean castle. It provides supported learning students with 800 hours of immersion in the facilities of each host business, preparing them to be work ready. The college has told me previously that many students have progressed from the intensive work focus of project search to achieve paid employment.

Colleges provide tangible opportunities for widening access and social mobility. Indeed, in his evidence to the committee, Stuart Brown of the EIS Further Education Lecturers Association highlighted that it is a specific mission of colleges to deliver education to people in their communities who have perhaps been left behind by other parts of the education system.

Colleges are places of lifelong learning and development, providing a platform where people can improve their skills or develop new interests at any point in their life. In delivering high-quality, highly respected advanced vocational qualifications and professional training, colleges, with their strong links to industry, play a pivotal role in upskilling the workforce in new technologies for new industries, making them absolutely critical to the realisation of the Scottish Government’s national strategy for economic transformation and its goal of a wellbeing economy.

The committee report says that it is clear from the evidence that there have been positive changes from regionalisation, alongside the broader policy changes taking place over the past 10 years, including the creation of colleges of scale, providing a stronger and more credible platform to engage with education and economic partners. That is something that I saw at first hand with Ayrshire College and the involvement of its principal in various economic forums.

The committee concluded that the coherence of the curriculum across the region that the college serves has aided learner pathways from school to higher education. Also of note are increases in articulation, widening access to higher education. In his evidence to the committee, Sir Peter Scott, the then commissioner for fair access, highlighted that colleges were absolutely crucial to the aim of fair access. He stated that colleges were a key path into degree courses, noting that, of the entrants to degree courses in higher education who had come from a more deprived background, 40 per cent went through a college route. I agree with his conclusion that Scotland’s record on fair access would be much diminished if it were not for colleges.

Enhancement of the student voice through the strengthening of student associations and student representation in college decision making is another area recognised as a success. However, along with the clear successes, there are frustrations and challenges that need to be addressed.

It is beyond doubt that the Scottish Government currently faces the most difficult public spending environment since devolution. There are pressures throughout our public sector and I understand and accept that really difficult decisions have been, and will continue to need to be, taken by Scottish Government ministers. In that context, maintaining the college resource budget at last year’s level is not unwelcome. However, I also accept and understand that colleges, like all public bodies, face increased costs and pressures.

I recognise the flexibilities that the Scottish Government has introduced for colleges, as outlined in the letter that the cabinet secretary sent to the committee. However, notwithstanding what Mr Dey said in his intervention on Pam Duncan-Glancy, I press the minister in that regard. I know that he is interested in the matter and was during his time on the committee. His predecessor agreed with the principle of being as flexible as possible and providing as many fiscal and operational tools as we could to the college sector. Therefore, I would welcome it if, in his closing speech, the minister could outline what more the Scottish Government can do to support colleges to continue to deliver within the existing financial envelope and when it can do that.

The committee produced a balanced report that acknowledges success and highlights challenges and opportunities. I commend it to the chamber and thank everyone who contributed to it.

I welcome the measures that the minister outlined. Does she agree that advancing and balancing the rights of all children who come into contact with our justice system, whether they are child victims of criminal harm, witnesses or children who cause harm to others, is of the utmost importance, and that any legislation made in this place must get it right for every child?

To ask the Scottish Government how forthcoming legislation will advance the rights of child victims of crime. (S6O-02333)

Presiding Officer,

“What kind of education will be needed by children and young people ... in the future and how do we make that a reality?”

That important central question guided the national discussion.

I welcome the publication of “All Learners in Scotland Matter: The National Discussion on Education”, and am happy to speak in support of the Government’s motion, which acknowledges the significant levels of engagement that the national discussion has generated.

There were events and discussions in every part of Scotland, including some that were led by schools, community groups and third sector organisations. It was the biggest public engagement exercise on education to have been undertaken nationally by Scottish education. It reached more than 38,000 people, including 26,000 children and young people.

The task was to build a compelling, consensual and renewed vision; the agreed vision speaks directly to the voices of the children who said again and again that they want a safe and inclusive education system that values everyone and celebrates all kinds of success. It is worth hearing that vision in full. It is this:

“Children and young people are at the heart of education in Scotland. The Scottish education system values collaborative partnerships that engage all learners, the people who work within and with the education system, parents, and carers to ensure that all learners in Scotland matter.

All learners are supported in inclusive learning environments which are safe, welcoming, caring, and proactively address any barriers to learning and inequities that exist or arise. Education in Scotland nurtures the unique talents of all learners ensuring their achievement, progress, and well-being.

Each child and young person in Scotland has high-quality learning experiences which respect their rights and represent the diversity of who they are and the communities they live in.

Each child and young person experiences great teaching, resources, and support for joyful learning that builds their confidence and equips them to be successful and to contribute in their life, work, and world, so they know how much they matter.”

A line in the report stuck out to me. I think that it might be a helpful guiding principle for us politicians as we navigate our way through the coming reforms and scrutiny of the bold changes that might be required. There is a need to

“balance the realism of what is needed now with an inspiring optimism for education in Scotland”.

The report on the national discussion recognises that more could be done to support quality and consistency in implementation of existing policies and practices. Importantly, it also notes the strength of what we have here in Scotland. It states:

“features of the Scottish education system ... must be continued and further enhanced, such as a commitment to valuing children and young people’s views, a broad-based education, the foundational importance of literacy and numeracy, the development of wellbeing, the pursuit of equity and equality, respect for a graduate level teaching profession, the importance of the work and working conditions of all members of the education workforce, and partnership”—

which the cabinet secretary spoke about—

“with parents, carers, communities, and relevant agencies, specialists and service.”

Ahead of the debate, YouthLink Scotland provided a helpful briefing note that suggests that Scottish education remains too narrowly defined, and that it is too often understood as formal learning that is planned for and delivered by teachers in formal settings. The purpose of Scottish education is to ensure that all our children and young people develop the knowledge, skills and attributes to allow them to reach their potential in learning, life and work.

I agree with YouthLink Scotland that youth work in all its forms

“complements and enhances delivery of the formal curriculum”

and provision of support for pupils. It contributes greatly to raising attainment and to improving outcomes for children and young people. A future Scottish education system will need to offer not just high-quality teaching and learning, but different learning pathways.

The national discussion report talks of the

“need to re-ignite the joy of learning”.

I strongly welcome the fact that play and outdoor learning are specifically mentioned. Not just as an MSP, but as a parent and, perhaps, even as someone who was not naturally inclined to thrive indoors in a classroom, I know just how important youth work is. Any “ambitious”, “inclusive” and “supportive system”, with children’s rights at its heart, will be clear that youth work is part of education. It would be helpful if, in her closing speech, the cabinet secretary could speak a little to how the national youth work strategy will link to the educational reforms that are coming.

I will end on that balance of realism and optimism. I acknowledge the issues that we have and the challenges that we face around investment—we face them right across our public services, as we are operating in hugely challenging times. For meaningful education reform that truly reflects the statement “All learners ... matter”, there will be difficult choices to make.

Here is the optimism bit. The vision is there: I believe that in Scotland we have all the skills and resources to achieve it.

That would be helpful, thank you.

Good morning. You have painted a great picture of the value of the schemes and the type of young people who are missing out. Can you give the committee an indication of the number of young people who were participating?

Our schools, as workplaces and learning environments, must be safe. Physical force, verbal abuse or threats, including prejudice-related incidents, and damage to property are all forms of violence that are completely unacceptable. No one in our schools—no pupil, teacher or other member of school staff—should be abused, threatened or assaulted. The violence that is reported in the media that has prompted our recent debates is shocking and I am, of course, particularly concerned for any individuals who are harmed. No one should feel frightened or unsafe in their place of work or learning.

I note and accept the cabinet secretary’s comments on data. This is a serious matter that needs to be dealt with seriously, in a calm and considered way, with a proper understanding of the scale of the issue. Inflaming things will only cause more stress and anxiety to teachers, pupils and parents. I will not be alone in having had feedback from teachers that the manner in which we discuss education, and its subsequent reporting in the media, can really have an impact on them. I know that we all understand the pressures that teachers face and the vital work that they do every day in our classrooms, and I will be keeping that in mind today. I also acknowledge that the topic is not new to our skilled teaching workforce.

Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide education in our schools, and all Scotland’s schools and colleges should have strategies to address, prevent and deal with work-related violence, including verbal and physical abuse of staff. I am grateful to my local authority—North Ayrshire Council—for keeping me informed of the work that it is doing in this regard. In June 2023 it will introduce a new health and safety incident recording system, which it is anticipated will have an impact on the quality and quantity of data that is being collected through the incident reporting process.

The council has established a working group to address how health and safety incidents—in particular, those relating to violence towards staff and pupils—are reported and supported across educational establishments. The group, the remit of which has been agreed with trade unions, will carry out detailed data audit and analysis to focus attention on the areas where improvements can be made, and on the processes and procedures for handling incidents of violence in North Ayrshire schools and supporting those who are affected by it. That includes developing a consistent process to record, respond to and reflect on incidents, with the intention of reducing the frequency of incidents and increasing support for those who are involved and, importantly, raising awareness of and improving access to advice, guidance and training for all staff.

North Ayrshire Council has told me that the aim is that its education service will have reviewed and designed processes that ensure that staff are knowledgeable and confident in dealing with incidents of violence and in building positive relationships with young people, and that senior leaders will be confident in enabling staff to undertake professional learning in the area.