Scottish Attainment Challenge (Local Authority Stretch Aims)

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 8 December 2022.

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Photo of Michael Marra Michael Marra Labour

We hear the statement from the cabinet secretary today, when schools are closed, kids are at home and striking members of teaching unions are outside this Parliament. The first action that the cabinet secretary must take is to solve this dispute as a matter of the utmost priority.

We must not forget that the policy refresh is being paid for by cuts for the poorest children in the poorest communities, which has been described in this Parliament by school leaders as an “immoral disgrace”.

The statement claims that

“If the stretch aims for literacy and numeracy are achieved in full and that rate of progress continues, we will be on track to substantially eliminate the poverty-related attainment gap in primary schools”.

Will the cabinet secretary confirm whether that means by 2026? More cynical people than me will say that this exercise amounts to an attempt to pass on to local authorities the responsibility to meet the SNP’s pledge. No one will forget that it was Nicola Sturgeon’s pledge—her “defining mission”. This week, the SNP is asking teachers to do more. Is it right that, next week, this Government will be asking them to do more with much less?