- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to milestone 9 of the Social Justice Annual Report: Scotland 2001 and, in particular, the information presented graphically in chart 9, what the average tariff scores in S4 were in figures for (a) all students, (b) the poorest-performing 20% and (c) the remaining 80%.
Answer
The information requested is given on page 39 of the Social Justice Annual Report 2001: Indicators of Progress published by the Scottish Executive in 2001, a copy of which is available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 17777).
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the Social Justice Annual Report: Scotland 2001, when it hopes to achieve the milestone 9 target to bring the poorest-performing 20% of pupils, in terms of standard grade achievement, closer to the performance of all pupils.
Answer
Education authorities are being asked to set for the first time, via the School Improvement Framework, a target for the average tariff score of their lowest attaining 20% of pupils for academic year 2004-05. We will be monitoring progress against these local targets to assess progress in bringing the attainment of this group closer to the attainment of all pupils.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive why there are no targets relating to Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 6 or above under objective 3 in the education and young people section of Building a Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-06: What the money buys.
Answer
The emphasis is to ensure that as many pupils as possible obtain qualifications, and especially those who are currently leaving school without qualifications. The targets chosen for Building A Better Scotland - Spending Proposals 2003-2006: what the money buys are in line with the National Priorities in Education. The Executive is making significant investment available to raise standards across the education system as a whole, which will impact on attainment at all levels.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of the S4 cohort progressed to S5 and stayed on at school beyond December in each year since 1995.
Answer
The following table shows the proportions of the S4 cohort who voluntarily stayed on at school beyond the minimum school leaving age (for publicly funded schools only):
| Year | Percentage of S4 Cohort |
| 1995-96 | 68% |
| 1996-97 | 68% |
| 1997-98 | 68% |
| 1998-99 | 68% |
| 1999-2000 | 69% |
| 2000-01 | 69% |
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28041 by Nicol Stephen on 27 August 2002, what the (a) starting date, (b) cost, (c) date of completion and (d) school roll in the year of completion was for each new public sector school completed between April 1999 and March 2001.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-28041 by Nicol Stephen on 27 August 2002, whether it will list the 14 new public sector schools completed between April 1999 and March 2001 that were not funded by public private partnership or private finance initiative.
Answer
The 14 schools are Charleston Primary School (Aberdeen), Rosemount Primary School (Angus), Auchinleck Primary School (East Ayrshire), Eaglesham Nursery (East Renfrewshire), Ullapool High School (Highland), Gourock Primary School (Inverclyde), Beith Primary School (North Ayrshire), Lawthorn Primary School (North Ayrshire), Alexander Peden Primary School (North Lanarkshire), Shottskirk Nursery (North Lanarkshire), Stow Primary School (Scottish Borders), Dundonald Primary School (South Ayrshire), Doune Nursery (Stirling) and Garshake Nursery (West Dunbartonshire).
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional primary school teachers were employed in early primary education in order to implement the commitment given in Working together for Scotland - A Programme for Government to reduce class si'es in primary 3 to 30 or smaller and what assessment it has made of the cost of employing such teachers.
Answer
The Working together for Scotland: A Programme for Government commitment to reduce class sizes in primary 3 was part of a larger commitment to reduce class sizes in primary 1 to primary 3. To assist authorities to reduce class sizes, £48.2 million was made available from April 1999 to March 2002. Authorities used these funds to employ teachers and undertake capital works.It is not possible to identify the number of teachers required to reduce class sizes in primary 3 alone. However, at 31 March 2002 authorities employed 441.54 FTE teachers under the class size reduction programme of the Excellence Fund.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many classes in primary 3 were reduced in number by more than five children in order to meet the commitment in Working together for Scotland - A Programme for Government to reduce class si'es to 30 or smaller.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many school-based candidates for examinations at SCE higher grade or Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 6 obtained a qualification in a language other than English in each year since 1995
Answer
The following table shows the numbers of school-based candidates obtaining at least one qualification at SCQF level 6 in a language other than English (for publicly funded schools only):
| Year | Number of Candidates |
| 1995 | 4,081 |
| 1996 | 3,949 |
| 1997 | 3,966 |
| 1998 | 4,088 |
| 1999 | 3,812 |
| 2000 | 4,317 |
| 2001 | 4,611 |
- Asked by: Michael Russell, MSP for South of Scotland, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 September 2002
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 31 October 2002
To ask the Scottish Executive how many days have been lost on average because of ill health amongst public sector teachers in each year since 1995, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.The management of teacher absence and the causes of absence are matters for individual local authorities as employers. However, Scottish local authorities provide Audit Scotland with information on sickness absence levels among local government staff, including teachers. Table 6b of its most recent report entitled
Performance Indicators 2000/2001: Benefits, Finance & Corporate Issues, published on 24 January 2002, contains comparative data for 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and can be accessed at:
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/publications/pdf/02pi04ac.pdf.
