The last meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Education And Skills Committee was held today as the country prepares for the national election on 6 May.

At the end of a highly eventful five-year session, MSPs on the committee have published a “legacy paper” with key messages for their successors.

What to watch out for in Scottish education

These include:

• Having “monitored the performance of the SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) and Education Scotland over the past five years, “we remain unconvinced that these bodies in their current form are fit for purpose. Confidence among practitioners in these organisations also appears low and it is clear that structural reform is now required.”
• Given that ”the full impact of Covid-19 on our remit may not become apparent for some time”, the next committee should “keep a watching brief on some of the concerns raised in relation to Covid-19, particularly in relation to its potential to widen the attainment gap”.
• The impact of Covid-19 on “whether the 2020 and 2021 exam cohorts have experienced any disadvantage as a result of estimated grades” should also be monitored.

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• The pandemic means it will be “important” to revisit recruitment and retention in the education workforce, as well as teacher education.
• The next committee should “think about how to engage meaningfully with younger children and children and young people with additional support needs, including learning disabilities” - groups that the committee has often heard from via third parties such as parents and support organisations, “rather than directly”.
• It should also explore “what progress, if any, has been made in relation to embedding black history into the curriculum in Scottish schools”.

? As it’s the end of this parliamentary session, we have produced a legacy paper, summarising our work since 2016 and making recommendations to our successors on what issues to follow up. Our legacy paper was published this morning and can be read here: https://t.co/FVGtTYtAIf

- Education and Skills Committee (@SP_EduSkills) March 22, 2021

• The next committee “should consider scrutinising the Scottish government’s implementation of the PSE (personal and social education) review recommendations”.
• While there will be some variation in how the 1,140 hours early years policy is implemented across Scotland, this should “not lead to some parents being able to access their full entitlement and others being unable to do so”.
• There should be a “watching brief” on higher and further education finances, especially given “the anticipated impact of Covid-19 and Brexit on international student numbers and public finances”.
• The 10-year anniversary of college regionalisation will fall in 2022-23, so the committee may also wish to examine “whether anticipated college reforms have become a reality”.