Education Governance Next Steps

As an amendment to motion S5M-06376 in the name of John Swinney (Education Governance Next Steps), insert at end "; notes evidence, including that submitted in response to the consultation and in the OECD report on Scottish education, which points to structural governance reforms having no positive impact on closing the attainment gap; notes that local democratic accountability is a key strength of education governance in Scotland; expresses concern regarding the implications for accountability in the Scottish Government’s proposals to move powers away from local authorities and to create new regional collaborations; believes the Scottish Government’s proposed reforms to be fundamentally misguided and in contradiction to the issues raised and solutions proposed in responses to the consultation, and calls on the Scottish Government to reconsider the overarching direction of its proposed reforms and invest substantially in education to reverse cuts to teaching and support staff."