Seòmar agus comataidhean

Michael Marra has one more line of questioning to follow, then we will go to Bob Doris.

Good morning, and welcome to the ninth meeting in 2022 of the Education, Children and Young People Committee.

Our first agenda item is consideration of the Police Act 1997 and the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (Fees) (Coronavirus) Amendment Regulations 2022. The committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 9 March and agreed to write to Clare Haughey, the Minister for Children and Young People, on several points. The committee considered the minister’s response by correspondence and agreed to note that and to make no recommendations in respect of the instrument. It is on the agenda today to allow the committee to formally record that decision.

The second item is evidence on education reform, specifically on the report “Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education”.

I warmly welcome our witnesses: Professor Kenneth Muir, honorary professor at the University of the West of Scotland and former chief executive and registrar of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, and Professor Graham Donaldson, honorary professor in the school of education at the University of Glasgow. We are delighted to have you both with us so soon after the publication of that very important report.

I invite Professor Muir to make a short opening statement of up to five minutes, before we move to questions.

I have one more question before we go back to Willie Rennie. [Interruption.] I beg your pardon. We have a question from Michael Marra.

I would like to say that this will be a quick question, but it probably will not be. We will try to deal with it quickly.

You have—deliberately, I think—made it your first recommendation that there should be a national discussion about the future of curriculum for excellence in the light of the OECD’s commentary on curriculum for excellence. You say:

“There was generally agreement with the OECD that CfE is still part of the direction of travel and confirmation that its underpinning philosophy was still sound.”

You go on to say that

“there was also a clear message”

about the requirement for change. You quote your consultation finding that 58 per cent agreed

“that the vision for CfE reflects what matters for the education of children and young people in Scotland.”

Will you comment on the second-top finding in your consultation? When asked to agree whether curriculum for excellence gives the best possible educational experience for our young people and enables them to realise their ambitions, only 22 per cent—one in five—felt able to agree with that statement.

When you talk about change, Professor Muir, surely we should be looking at a major overhaul of curriculum for excellence if it is failing to deliver the best possible educational experience and to help young people to realise their ambitions.

And then take the appropriate action, yes?

Thank you very much, Professor Muir. We move now to questions. I will start with some background questions, and I hope that we will benefit from hearing your answers. Why is the SQA broken beyond repair?

How far back do you think the issue has existed?

We need a genuine national discussion. That was a pretty strong endorsement of the first recommendation in the report, and I appreciate it.

Our session has gone on quite a bit longer than I promised, but our witnesses have given us a lot to think about. I thank you both for that and for your time this morning.

The public part of the meeting is now at an end.