International Education

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 10:01 am on 24 April 2008.

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Photo of Maureen Watt Maureen Watt Scottish National Party 10:01, 24 April 2008

I am delighted to be able to introduce this debate on international education. As members know, the Government is ambitious for Scotland's young people. Part of building a smarter Scotland and a thriving economy is giving our next generation the skills for learning, skills for work and skills for life to succeed in the globalised economy in which we now live. I am sure that that is something on which all members can agree.

One of our aims within the smarter Scotland objectives is to ensure that all our young people are outward looking and confident about themselves and their nation, and that they have a modern and enterprising world view. In order to achieve that aim, our education system needs to provide them with knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland's place in it—which is a thread that runs through the curriculum for excellence for all young people at all stages of their learning.

We must ensure that our young people understand, and can respond to, the challenges that are presented by globalisation. If the curriculum is to be excellent, it must incorporate an international perspective; if it does not, our society and economy will be poorer. The Government is, therefore, committed to ensuring that an international education is part of the experience for young people in all our schools.

We are taking action on three main fronts. First, we are changing learning and teaching. International education is not an add-on, and the curriculum for excellence is the ideal vehicle to deliver international education in schools and to equip young people with a modern and enterprising Scottish world view. The experiences and outcomes that are currently the subject of engagement and trialling in schools have been written such that they will provide ample opportunity for learning and teaching from an international perspective. For example, one of the draft social studies outcomes is that

"Having explored the globalisation of trade," the young person will be able to

"explain the interdependence of different parts of the world and assess the impacts for providers, consumers and the environment."

That provides opportunities galore to examine the scientific, ethical and human issues that are connected with global trade and sustainable development.