Attainment Gap Closing in East Dunbartonshire

That the Parliament notes the report in the Kirkintilloch Herald of 10 February 2020 praising East Dunbartonshire for leading the way in narrowing the attainment gap; understands that East Dunbartonshire pupils received their best-ever SQA results, which showed that they performed significantly above the national average and fared very favourably against the area’s "virtual comparator", a data set that matches local pupils with similar pupils from other parts of Scotland; further understands that school leavers’ initial destinations in 2017-18 showed that East Dunbartonshire remains the top-performing local authority in Scotland for senior pupils going on to positive destinations, such as further education and employment with East Dunbartonshire reaching 98.85% compared to the national figure of 94%; believes that these figures also reveal that a higher percentage of East Dunbartonshire school leavers from the most deprived areas took this path than was the average in Scotland; welcomes a report by Skills Development Scotland, which highlighted the positive working relationship between these schools and their team in East Dunbartonshire, ultimately benefiting local young people as they prepare for life after school, and recognises that these encouraging results show the commitment made by the schools and the pupils in this local authority, regardless of their backgrounds, in leading the way with attainment and achievement.