Education Governance Next Steps

As an amendment to motion S5M-06376 in the name of John Swinney (Education Governance Next Steps), leave out from "publication" to end and insert “Scottish Government document, Education Governance, Empowering Teachers Parents and Communities to achieve Excellence and Equity in Education; An analysis of consultation responses, which states that 'There was widespread support for the current governance system and an apprehension towards further change within the system', that 'On the whole, respondents did not see current governance arrangements as a barrier for improvement and that changing them was not expected to address the deep-seated issues that get in the way of achieving excellence and equity for all' and that 'Specifically respondents thought that budget cuts and staffing issues were the two key barriers for improvement'; does not believe that the Scottish Government document, Education Governance: Next Steps in any way addresses these concerns of parents, teachers, headteachers and educationalists, and calls on the Scottish Government to halt these reforms and to return urgently to the Parliament with a programme of measures that does address these concerns, including action towards restoring cuts to budgets, teacher numbers and support staff.”