– in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 June 2020.
Alexander Stewart
Conservative
Although I pay tribute to all teachers who have risen to the challenge of putting in place new ways of working during the pandemic, figures compiled by Fife Council show that 20 per cent of primary school pupils and 40 per cent of secondary school pupils had not engaged with home learning by the end of May.
Clearly, missing months of schooling will set those children back significantly in comparison with their peers. What further, urgent support with the Scottish Government provide to reduce barriers to pupil engagement?
Nicola Sturgeon
Scottish National Party
That is an important issue. None of us wants to see young people lose out on education or to be out of school for any longer than is necessary. That is why the most important strand of work in that area, which is being led by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, is that of getting our schools open again as quickly as possible and in a safe and phased way. In our judgment, that will happen on the date that we have set, which is 11 August.
We will also look to increase the number of children who can access critical childcare through the hub system that has been in place throughout the crisis. During June, we also hope to provide transition support for pupils who are going into primary school or moving from primary school to secondary school.
The point about support for home learning is important. When I set out the route map in the chamber a couple of weeks ago, I announced additional funding for electronic devices for young people in deprived areas, to make sure that they are not losing out in that way. Working with teachers and parents, we will pursue a range of other ways to ensure that home learning is a good and worthwhile experience for young people while it is still required.
I pay tribute to teachers and parents across the country for the really good work that they have been doing in very challenging circumstances.
I also thank young people themselves. This has been an incredibly difficult experience for all of them, but I think they have all responded to it magnificently well.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
