Chamber and committees

As the minister has accepted, there is growing concern around the financial sustainability of the higher education sector as a whole. Given the Scottish Funding Council’s role in monitoring the financial health of the sector, will the minister advise why the publication of its annual report on the financial sustainability of the higher education sector has been delayed from January this year, and will he advise when the report will be published?

The only way that ministers have been able to meet their target on waiting times for child and adolescent mental health services has been by removing from the waiting times figures young people and children who were waiting for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism diagnoses. That is a fact. It is a shameful situation.

I have been contacted by many parents in Edinburgh who have been forced to go private to seek a diagnosis for their children. In follow-up meetings, their general practice has told them that it will not accept responsibility for the continuing care of those children or deliver the prescriptions that they need. Will the First Minister review that policy? More specifically, will the Government distribute national guidance on prescribing for such young people?

I start by thanking George Adam, my Education, Children and Young People Committee colleague and Paisley mafia member, for securing this debate.

I put on record just how impressed I was to hear about the work that is being undertaken by the University of the West of Scotland when I recently met representatives in the Parliament. I look forward to a visit that I have set up to see some of those leading projects. The University of the West of Scotland is one of Scotland’s largest modern universities and a leading provider of undergraduate, postgraduate and research degree education.

As has been mentioned, since the launch of the foundation, in 2022, the programme has grown year on year, with headteachers, pupils, deputy heads and teachers in schools all remarking on the positive benefits that it is bringing to pupils, and I agree. The foundation programme includes a visit to one of the four UWS campuses and a 10-week university-level module that is delivered by UWS lecturers to pupils in their school setting. The modulated timetable, which delivers one period a week for pupils, is really important. The fact that it is free for schools has broken down many barriers, with the UWS also covering the transport costs of the campus visit, which takes place during the school day.

Pupils are invited to be involved during their S5 year, with the aim of completing the programme by December of their S6 year. As has been mentioned, since the pilot in 2022, the UWS has engaged with more than 2,500 senior pupils across more than 30 schools in Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire, Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway and Glasgow city. The UWS is continuing to expand the offer to other schools throughout the west of Scotland.

The University of the West Scotland is rightly proud of delivering the foundation academy programme to senior school pupils across the west of Scotland. As George Adam outlined, this unique initiative offers pupils the opportunity to experience studying at university level while developing key academic and personal skills to ensure that they are prepared for the university experience.

The Parliament’s education committee recently met care-experienced young people to discuss the barriers to higher and further education that they are experiencing. One of the key messages that I heard from them and took away was that many felt that they were unprepared for university life. Many of those young people will be the first person in their family who has ever gone to university, so programmes such as this present a real pre-university experience and an opportunity for them to ask the many questions that they had.

The programme has provided numerous benefits to young people, including the opportunity for them to understand what they can expect beyond the boundaries of secondary school education. Ahead of the debate, I was thinking that it does not seem too long ago since I went to university. I remember the shock to my system—I went from rural Perthshire to an Aberdeen student hall flat with a railway right behind it. Luckily for me, I made many great, lifelong friends at university. However, I acknowledge that that does not happen for many young people.

The transition from school to higher or further education is a big step and a big responsibility for many young people who are leaving home or care for the first time, often to travel across the country or even further afield. Initiatives such as the UWS foundation academy can provide our young people with that extra bit of knowledge on how university life will impact them, help them to answer their many questions and address any fears and doubts that they might have.

Other universities have adopted a similar approach. I know that many of our colleges provide early holistic support to young people, but the foundation academy is the first of its kind in Scotland, which has been recognised through many awards, as George Adam said. If more universities and colleges follow the same lines and offer similar courses, that will help to reduce the number of students who drop out of university, which is something that we should all want to see.

I congratulate all those involved in the programme, which has made such a difference to many people already, on the great impact that it is having on many young people’s lives. I also congratulate George Adam on securing the debate.

I speak in support of my amendment, which seeks to change the business programme motion by replacing the debate on the first Tuesday back on the international situation with a debate on addressing violence in schools.

I make no apology for again highlighting my concerns about the breakdown in discipline in our classrooms and the need for leadership from ministers to turn the situation around. Survey after survey by unions has revealed that teachers are being punched, kicked and spat at by pupils, being set upon by yobs wielding hockey sticks and broken glass, and having their cars vandalised.

I absolutely agree. This is an area in which the Government needs to lead. The Government is not aware of the fact that many teachers and schools are not even aware of its national action plan. There are still no standards in place for the reporting and recording of incidents. That must be addressed with urgency.

The First Minister has said that gender-based violence in our society must be addressed. I agree. That is why we are calling on ministers and the Government to lead from the front and to make the issue a priority. Ministers must acknowledge that, in schools across our country, the Government’s policies are failing and have led to the concerning situation that we see in schools today.

Ministers must act urgently. That should start with ministers holding a debate on the subject in Parliament, which will enable us to look at the policies that are failing to address the situation. The Scottish Conservatives requested a ministerial statement on violence in schools over the weekend, ahead of the Parliamentary Bureau meeting, but the minister has committed only to providing one further down the line. That is not acceptable. Teachers cannot wait for ministers to do something further down the line. They need action now. Pupils, teachers, parents and unions are calling for visible and strong leadership from ministers on the issue, and I agree with them. We have not seen that to date.

The Scottish Parliament is here to debate the most pressing issues facing the people of Scotland. I do not think that anything is more pressing than violence in our schools—that is an issue that this Parliament has responsibility over and it is something that we must address. That is why it is of critical importance that we debate the issue of school violence and that ministers are held to account.

I move amendment S6M-17059.1, to leave out “The International Situation” and insert:

“Addressing Violence in Schools”.

I absolutely agree with Alex Cole-Hamilton on that. The recent NASUWT survey points to the evidence that he has put on record. The levels of violence in our classrooms and schools are totally unacceptable. There has been a surge in the number of assaults involving dangerous weapons on school campuses. We need to see action from ministers. The cabinet secretary acknowledged that only yesterday. Many incidents are also going unreported—

We should thank the NASUWT for the survey, which should act as a wake-up call for ministers. One of my greatest concerns relates to violence that was reported to the police, where 100 per cent of female teachers and 57 per cent of male teachers said that no action was taken against the pupil or parents. The quote says:

“‘The police told me it would not be worth taking it further as nothing would happen due to their age. They also said ... it could make things worse for me in school once the individual knows there are no consequences. So I decided against making an official complaint to the police’”.

What is the Scottish Government doing in relation to that policy? The police must be involved when extreme acts of violence happen in our schools. What is the Scottish Government’s position on what should happen?

I begin by paying tribute to Christina McKelvie. We were all shocked when we heard the news, and I want to send my condolences at this difficult time to fellow member of the Education, Children and Young People Committee Keith Brown, to all Christina’s family and friends, and to members across the chamber.

I pay tribute to my friend and colleague Liz Smith, not only for the power of work that she and her parliamentary office have put into her Schools (Residential Outdoor Education) (Scotland) Bill, but for her lifelong advocacy—as a teacher and as a member of this Parliament—of the benefits of outdoor education for our young people.

As a member of the committee, I had the pleasure of taking part in its evidence taking on the proposal and of meeting and hearing from the fantastic and passionate people who work in the outdoor education sector across our great country. I have probably now heard too many stories from my colleague John Mason about seeing his teachers in their nightwear during his childhood outdoor educational experiences, but I am sure that we will have the pleasure of hearing more of that later.

We all agree that it is unquestionably the case that young people receive positive educational, personal, character and mental health benefits as a result of undertaking residential outdoor education, and the bill will make a positive difference to the outcomes of all our young people.

As I said in my intervention on the minister, as an Edinburgh MSP, I have first-hand knowledge of how incredibly lucky parents and guardians in the capital are in still being able to access residential outdoor education experiences for our young people. I pay tribute to the City of Edinburgh Council for continuing to value and deliver residential outdoor education, given the huge financial pressures that the council faces. If the lowest-funded council in Scotland can deliver residential outdoor education, I am sure that we can get every other council in Scotland to deliver the policy and the benefits that it will bring.

I am sorry in that case—I cannot.

In the light of the lessons from that study, I believe that, as a Parliament, we need to understand that the proposed expenditure on the bill can be regarded as preventative spend that will help to build the resilience in our young people that is missing.

The most recent significant piece of legislation to have been passed on outdoor education is the Education Act 1944, which is known as the Butler act. After the second world war, the nation wanted to give its children and young people—who had come through the traumatic and life-changing experiences of the war and were disconnected from society—hope and a positive outlook in life. Fast forward to today, and we know that many children are disconnected from their learning, having just come through the traumatic and life-changing experience of a global pandemic.

As Liz Smith has stated, the bill is about what is in the best interests of our young people in the post-Covid age, when so many indicators tell us that they are facing more challenges than ever before. As we continue to assess the negative impacts of the educational disruption that was caused by the pandemic and the consequences that that has had for our young people, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, I believe that the bill represents an opportunity to again give our young people hope and a positive outlook in their lives.

If we are to do that, we must do it as a country and Parliament must send our young people, parents, guardians and teachers the message that we will invest in and value them.

I have time to take the intervention from Brian Whittle now.

Will the member give way?