Thank you, convener. Derek Mackay will set out the broader context of the budget, and I will speak about the progress that we are making and the decisions that we face if we are to realise our ambitions for Scottish education.
Since 2007, there has been constant improvement in our education system, supported by appropriate change. When this Government came to power, curriculum for excellence was running aground, standards were slipping, our programme for international student assessment scores were drifting and a high proportion of our school buildings were in poor condition.
We have turned that around. Curriculum for excellence has been rolled out as the way in which we do education and it is producing ever better outcomes. We have record exam results and a record number of school leavers in positive destinations. We have halted our decline in the PISA tables, we have reinforced our international standing in education and we have more new or refurbished schools. Four hundred and sixty-three school building projects have been completed since this Government came to power, which is 135 more than were completed under the preceding Administration.
There is also progress on early years, free school meals, attainment and vocational education. Across all the main measures, across the whole area of education, what exists now is better than what existed in 2007. That is the reality.
However, we cannot and should not rest on our laurels. We should do more. We should work across the political divide, with the unions, with parents, with pupils and with local authorities. That is how we will achieve the best results for Scotland. I made that case to the committee in April and I make it again.
Of course, with the powers that come with independence—the powers of a normal state—we could have used tax, welfare and labour market regulation to bear down on the real enemy of educational progress, which is poverty. In the event, Scotland did not vote yes, and there are consequences to that decision for this budget and future budgets. We now have to find a way of getting better results with the money that we have.
The first thing that we should do is be true to the tradition of Scottish education, while always seeking to improve outcomes. We will not do that by chasing the latest fad or misrepresenting the improving reality of Scottish education. We will not do it by imitating approaches that are failing elsewhere.
The Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg, who is now teaching at Harvard and whose students are studying for a masters degree in international education and looking with approval at what Scotland is doing, describes much of what is taking place in other countries as being infected by GERM—the global educational reform movement.
I will be happy to explain the perils of GERM at greater length, if I am asked to do so. I want to reinforce some key points, because we are trying to use them to improve Scottish education. Successful, well-rooted education systems that are not part of GERM have high confidence in teachers and principals as professionals, encourage teachers and students to try new ideas and approaches—in other words, putting curiosity, imagination and creativity at the heart of learning—and regard the purpose of teaching and learning as being to cultivate development of the whole child.
I want Scotland to remain GERM free and I think that the vast majority of Scottish parents and teachers want that, too. I want a system that has high confidence in teachers, which is open and creative and regards Scotland as the best place to grow up in. Such an approach encourages innovation. That is why, for example, the week after the referendum I announced that we would convene a children and young people’s summit. At the first planning meeting yesterday, I was bowled over by the ideas and aspirations of Scotland’s young people.
Instead of being fixated with structures, we are focusing on closing the attainment gap and creating greater equity. Ours is an outcome-based approach with local authorities, which is the best guarantor of educational stability and progress. We should be placing young people, teachers and teaching at the heart of improving outcomes for our children and young people.
Let me make this absolutely clear to the committee: we cannot drive up attainment and improve outcomes with fewer teachers. We are committed to working with local government, with the engagement of parents and trade unions, to reach agreement on better educational outcomes. Those discussions have commenced and have not concluded. Teachers are at the heart of achieving the very best outcomes for our children and young people and are a top priority for Government.
The progress that we are making in Scottish education, the hard work that we have put into curriculum for excellence, the inspiration that we are drawing from the improvement partnerships and the emphasis that we place on developing Scotland’s young workforce must all be taken forward in a time of ever-greater financial insecurity.
The time is right for detailed reflection by all players in Scottish education about what should come next and how Scotland can continue to improve. We must press on and build on the progress that we have made, and we will do so, through our strong Scottish approach to innovation as well as our proud history as the oldest system of compulsory schooling in the world. I am very open to discussions with people about how we do that and I look forward to those discussions.