Order, order.

We now move to a Stage 1 reading on a bill from the benches of the Government from last term.

Education (Scotland) Bill

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to introduce a requirement that 16 and 17 year olds are either in attendance at school, college, university, or engaging in an apprenticeship or other training scheme; to give parents and pupils a clear legal right to determine which qualifications they are entered for; to allow for the Scottish Ministers to issue guidance on school uniforms; and to require schools to take reasonable steps to ensure that every student obtains an SCQF Level 5 qualification in Mathematics and English.

1 Education Leaving Age

(1) The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is amended as follows:

(2) After section 30 insert:

30A. Requirement of 16 and 17 year olds to remain in education

(1) A person who has not obtained the age of 18 must be:

• (a) in attendance at school, or

• (b) undertaking a course of further education, or

• (c) undertaking a course of higher education, or

• (d) engaged in apprenticeship or other training course which has been approved by the person’s local authority and their parents or other legal guardians.

(2) A person who wishes to engage in an apprenticeship or course of training must receive approval for that specific apprenticeship or training from their local authority prior to leaving school.

(3) When determining whether to approve an a person’s request to undertake an apprenticeship or training course, a local authority shall consider and come to their decision on the basis of the extent to which an apprenticeship or training course is required for entry into the relevant field.

(4) This section does not apply to a person who has completed a total of 13 years of education, or who would have had completed such a total if they had not left school to pursue a different course of education.

2 Right of parents and pupil to request an appropriate qualification level

(1) The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 is amended as follows:

(2) After section 28A insert:

28AA. Right of parents and pupil to request an appropriate qualification level

(1) Where a parent of a pupil makes a written request to a school requesting that the pupil be entered for a requested qualification at a requested level, it shall be the duty of the school to follow that request, provided:

• (a) The request is not obviously unreasonable in relation to the pupil’s age and prior attainment

• (b) Implementing the request would not incur an obviously unreasonable financial burden on the school

• (c) The pupil has previously shown good behaviour and would be unlikely to disrupt the learning of other students

• (d) It is not a request for a pupil to be entered for a qualification at a level below what they have picked for themselves

• (e) Implementing the request is physically possible and compliant with all other legislation

3 Guidance on school uniforms

(1) The Scottish Ministers may issue guidance to education authorities in relation to school uniforms, for use if a school uniform is required by a school.

(2) Such guidance may be issued in relation to, in particular—

• (a) implementing uniforms in a way that is inclusive to transgender and nonbinary students, and

• (b) the use of gendered uniforms;

• (c) the use of clothing with school branding in the uniform.

(3) An education authority must have regard to such guidance.

4 Target for pupils to leave school with Mathematics and English qualifications

(1) Education authorities must take reasonable steps to ensure that all pupils are able to obtain the following qualifications by the time they leave secondary school:

• An SCQF Level 5 qualification in Mathematics; and

• An SCQF Level 5 qualification in English, or English for Speakers of Other Languages where the pupil is not a native English speaker

(2) This does not apply to schools specifically for pupils with Additional Support Needs

(3) This does not apply to pupils with learning disabilities which, in the opinion of the school staff, would clearly prevent the pupil from obtaining one or both of these qualifications.

(4) In cases where this section does not apply, schools and education authorities must still take action to enable the relevant pupils to achieve the highest level qualification they are capable of.

5 Commencement

(1) Section 1 and Section 4 come into force on the 1st of August 2021.

(2) All other Sections of this Act come into force upon Royal Assent.

6 Short title

The short title of this Act is the Education (Scotland) Act.

This Bill was written by the Right Honourable Sir Duncs11 GCT KT KCB CBE PC QC MP MSP (Tayside) FRS, on behalf of the Scottish Government, with credit given to /u/CheckMyBrain11 for the section on school uniforms.

This bill will go to a Stage 1 vote on the 13th July 2020.

Amendments may be submitted until then either through modmail to /r/MHOCHolyrood or by DM to /u/troe2339.

Opening speech

Presiding Officer,

On the 26^th of March, the Scottish Government set out our proposals for curriculum reform, seeking to create an education system fit for the 21st century. These proposals were based on months of cross-party consultation and consensus seeking.

On the 6^th of April, the Government then moved to introduce the necessary secondary legislation to implement the bulk of the reforms. This was done through issuing three Statutory Instruments, which now form the law of Scotland and ensure that the legal basis for the implementation of the vast majority of the reforms we set out.

However, a small number of the proposals necessitate the passing of primary legislation, and that is what this bill is proposed to do. Specifically, this bill has two primary functions. The first is to make provision for our young people to remain in some form of education or training until the age of 18, and the second gives parents and pupils an increased right to determine what level of qualification they sit - particularly relevant given our proposals for the SQA Ordinary Qualification to operate with a Foundation and a Expanded level.

Full justification for both of these changes can be seen in the Educating for the 21^st Century proposal documents, but they are both changes which featured in that report, and to which the Scottish Government received no objections.

I shall provide a quick justification for each change, acknowledging that the full justification is in the report document.

The School Leaving Age was set in 1974, and was an increase from 14 at the time. I am sure I do not need to explain the extent of the changes to our economy since 1974, with the demands of school leavers changing significantly. The time where one could walk out of school on the Friday and start the local mine or steel plant on the Monday is gone, and it’s not coming back. Now, our economy demands a higher educated workforce, and people who leave education early tend to earn less than those who stay in education. We have therefore decided to increase the leaving age to 18, but taking a flexible approach to allow people to engage in training or a different form of education, because every pupil is different.

In relation to allowing parents and pupils the right to determine what qualification they or their children sit. This decision can of course be made including the advice of the school, and in the vast majority of cases we do not expect this right to need to be invoked, but it is ultimately the pupil who feels the impacts of what qualification they sit, and if they would rather take a risk and take a more challenging qualification, that seems right for them and we should not stop them doing so.

Parliament, you have already backed the vast majority of our reforms to education, and I look forward to them being implemented. I urge you to back this bill to support these common sense changes.