The “national discussion” on Scottish education has shown an “overwhelming appetite for change”, according to a report published this afternoon.
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth today described the national discussion as “the biggest engagement exercise ever to have taken place in Scottish education”. The report authors say they are “not proposing an avalanche of changes is imposed on the education system”, but that change “cannot be invisible or non-existent”.
Now, opposition politicians have called on the Scottish government to give teachers and school leaders more autonomy and to reiterate the commitment to reducing teachers’ class-contact time.
Ms Gilruth, in a parliamentary debate this afternoon coinciding with publication of All Learners in Scotland Matter: Our National Discussion on Education, said the national discussion had reached more than 38,000 people and that today’s report would help to “safeguard the learning and the life chances of all children and young people in Scotland”.
The report highlights the need for “bold changes within the education system and an urgent need for a future-focused reform process accompanied by quality implementation”.
Conservative education spokesperson Stephen Kerr said that the report’s recognition of “an overwhelming appetite for change” should be viewed as “a call for urgent steps to ensure real reform”.
He picked up on findings that suggested a “lack of support and respect given to teachers and pupil support assistants”, and called for debates “on the level to which teachers and school leaders should be able to be more autonomous in their decision making”, “the presumption against specialist schooling for young people with additional support needs” and “the age at which children start formal schooling”.
Mr Kerr also demanded that the government recognise “the frustration, cynicism and anger at previous unmet promises of reform and the resultant doubts expressed in the report over whether genuine reform would take place”.
Labour education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy, in an amendment to a motion from Ms Gilruth, said that the government commitment on non-contact time is necessary, and called on the government to “reiterate this commitment and set out when it intends to fulfil it”.
Today’s report calls for “carefully sequenced and adequately resourced improvements with time for consolidation”.
Key targets include:
- A need for “dedicated and sustainable funding” to provide staffing and resources “to meet the individual needs of each learner”, which is “especially urgent” for pupils with additional support needs.
- A need “to reignite the joy of learning”, including more opportunities to play and learn outdoors, as well as more options and choices for pupils when it comes to their learning. The report suggests moving “from progression based on age and stage of schooling to flexible pathways”.
- A regular curriculum review process to ensure that Curriculum for Excellence remains “relevant, up to date and fit for purpose”.
- A need to recognise and reward the important work undertaken by all in the education workforce. The report says this should be “reflected in career opportunities and high-quality professional learning, to support high-quality practice as a common entitlement for all”.
- The academic-vocational divide should be broken down and learners offered “a broader set of assessment and qualification options”.
- Improvement of digital skills throughout the Scottish education system.
