Gilruth admits the SNP 'should have delivered by now'

The Herald Scotland

13 hours ago

Broken promises
The first questions asked were unsurprisingly about that workload issue, and the suggestion that the government has 'failed' to honour a manifesto commitment about contact time received applause in the room. For context, the government promised to cut contact time by 90 minutes per week and, thus far, has not delivered.
Gilruth was challenged not just on cutting contact time, but on ensuring that teachers decide how to use the extra time. This has been a bone of contention because at least some councils want to take control of at least some of the newly-created non-contact time.
The Cabinet Secretary admitted that 'it's tough in our schools just now', adding: 'I know it's really tough.'
Of the cut to contact time, she also said: 'I accept we should have delivered by now'. That admission provoked applause in the room.
Gilruth argued that cutting contact time would be the key change that would help the teaching profession, and referenced research saying that restoring teacher numbers to 2023 levels would allow for the promise to be met in primary schools. She did not mention secondary schools, and for good reason – cutting contact time there is enormously difficult and there is little prospect of meaningful progress being made any time soon.
Again, she accepted, albeit tacitly, a degree of failure from the government, admitting: 'It's not going as quickly as it should have.'
She also explained that a proposal to COSLA had been rejected because more work was required, some of which is now ongoing, but insisted:
'We have got to get this over the line.'
At this point audible mutters began to spread, and from the back of the room I saw heads starting to shake as Gilruth argued that she has 'upheld her part of the bargain' by securing more money for councils. There was no open revolt in response, but the room didn't seem particularly convinced.
A crisis in ASN
Questions then moved on to ASN and the lack of support available in schools, with Gilruth asked how she would ensure adequate resourcing in this area. This is a huge issue for teachers, who are struggling to cope with a massive increase in the level of support that they have to provide despite a lack of funding to do so.
Gilruth proposed that there is 'still support for the presumption of mainstreaming, but it's about how it is resourced' – a statement that certainly provoked some dissent in the room. She also talked about definitions of ASN having expanded significantly over the years, which is true, but didn't go so far as to suggest that this is a problem.
But she did say that we need to 'think again about how to resource ASN in our schools.'
She referenced a recent Audit Scotland report that called for wholesale changes to ASN provision, and said that she is 'protecting the budget' but is concerned that the money isn't always getting to schools. The hall then got to see a member of the Scottish Government talking about the importance of 'transparency', and was reminded that we 'don't exist in a silo' in reference to decisions by the UK government.
However, the most interesting part of her response involved Pupil Equity Funding, the more than £100m a year that is sometimes known as 'anti-poverty funding'.
This money was always supposed to be additional to core budgets, and used to fund extra services that would 'close the attainment gap', but critics have for years warns that it was in fact being used to plug financial holes that were caused by years and years of cuts.
Remarkably, Jenny Gilruth admitted that this additional funding is 'not additional any more.'
She went in to reference a forthcoming UK government spending review, and argued that issues of funding for Scottish education 'don't exist in a silo.'
But the shout from the floor was: 'Not good enough.'
The education secretary was challenged on a number of issues including workload, ASN and violence. (Image: Alan Richardson Pix-AR.co.uk)
Violence in schools
Another of the pressing issues in Scottish education right now concerns violence and aggression in schools, and it was no surprise that teachers wanted to raise it.
The education secretary was asked why teachers have to put up with this sort of behaviour. She was told that if she were assaulted at work then the police would be called, but that in schools there seems to be a level of violence that teachers just need to put up with.
She was then asked if it will take a teacher being murdered in their classroom before the government takes 'real action'.
In response, she said that violence is a major issue and unacceptable, but was immediately heckled with a shout that 'nothing is being done.'
At this point Ms Gilruth became, at best, defensive, and snapped back: 'I'm here listening to you as your Cabinet Secretary.'
From there she argued that similar issues are affecting female politicians, and that the issue of increasing violence, as well as misogyny, are wider social problems.
'It's not all about schools,' she said. 'We need a societal response to some of these challenges.'
She also referenced her government's Behaviour Action Plan, said that further guidance on 'consequences' would be released soon, and told delegates that exclusion had to remain an option for teachers.
But her answers didn't generate any applause in the room..
Music, colleges, and universities
On the topic of instrumental music teachers, Ms Gilruth was asked if she would commit to delivering full professional registration for these staff before the next election. She did give an 'absolute commitment', but it was only to engage with the GTCS and 'move this forward' ahead of the election.
The penultimate questions of the session concerned tertiary education, referencing real terms cuts to college funding and the ongoing crisis in the 'underfunded and badly managed' university sector. In response, as expected, she praised the work that colleges do and said that they 'must be supported', adding that her government has provided flexibility to the sector and met demands to fund pay awards. She did accept, however, that recent years have been a 'really challenging time' for colleges.
On university funding, she defended the Scottish Government's position on free tuition while pointing out that the wider UK sector is currently facing significant challenges. Some of these, she argued, originate with the UK government, with NI increases and immigration rules both cited. She explained that that while she is willing to have a conversation about how universities are financed, that this would remain a red line that they would not cross.
Trans rights
The final question to the education secretary focused on trans rights, which reflected the concerns of a number of speakers from earlier in the day. In light of the recent supreme court decision, a delegate asked Ms Gilruth what actions she has taken to ensure that transgender and non-binary students are not 'adversely affected'.
At this point there was another shift in tone.
'This is a really challenging time for trans staff and pupils,' she said, 'and I want you to hear that from me as a member of our LGBT community.'
She then explained that although the government wants to provide reassurance, the Equality Act is reserved and updated EHCR guidance would be for ministers in London, not Edinburgh, to deal with. However, she added that she had raised the issue with her UK Government counterpart, and that she wants people to get in touch with concerns.
Summing up
Given the chance to make closing remarks, Gilruth (wisely) avoided the sort of speech that many politicians would have been unable to resist – the kind that lists all sorts of supposed achievements in a way that only further alienates them from their audience. Instead, she once again accepted that things are 'tough' in schools, and said: 'If you would like me to come into your school and visit, I will come.'
She also offered a 'thank you from the government for all the work you're doing in our schools', and told the room that she was there 'in listening mode' for the rest of the evening.
The applause that closed the session would be best-described as polite.
But the same can't be said of many of the comments I heard afterwards.