About the Inquiry
The Education and Skills Committee has prioritised the wellbeing of vulnerable children and young people during the Coronavirus outbreak as one immediate focus for its work.
The Committee knows that different children will have different support needs. For some attending a school or childcare setting would be best, for others targeted support in a home setting is best, for others it will be a combination of the two. Pressures on local authorities and all other organisations with a role to play will impact on what support can be provided.
The Committee also knows there has been a need to quickly adapt approaches to reflect social distancing and an increased need for support, and that the challenge of co-ordinating all of this support has been massive.
Further Information
Please find a link here to the Committees 'Coronavirus and education' webpage. The issues on the 'Coronavirus and education' page overlap with issues on this page.
Timetable
The Committee has written to key organisations and to the Scottish Government on this issue inviting them to highlight issues that need scrutiny at a national level.
The call for views is now closed.
Evidence
6 May 2020
The Committee heard from the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on Covid-19.
You can watch the meeting here.
Submissions
The Committee received the following submissions from organisations and trade unions.
Organisations
Unions
Focus group on youth work
On 22 June the Committee held a focus group with key stakeholders who provide youth work to discuss the impact of covid 19. The video of the session is here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMG_NdqJ78g&feature=youtu.be
The submissions received to inform the session are linked below:
Correspondence
The Committee has written to key organisations on this issue inviting them to highlight issues that need scrutiny at a national level. The Convener of the Committee has also written to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, both of these letters can be read below.
The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills response to the letter from the Convener is noted below
The Committee wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills on issues relating to the wellbeing and learning experiences of vulnerable children. Read the letter and the response from the Cabinet Secretary below.
The Committee also sought a response from COSLA on the issues raised with the Cabinet Secretary.
The Committee wrote to COSLA on details of how pupil equity funding has been used during the pandemic. Read the letter to COSLA.