Education should not simply be about meeting expectations

Meghan Gallacher, Conservative MSP for Central Scotland and Lothians West. Pic: Contributed

placeholder image — Meghan Gallacher, Conservative MSP for Central Scotland and Lothians West. Pic: Contributed

The latest PISA results – which measure educational performance across the world - should be a moment to reflect and have an honest conversation about the direction of Scottish education.

For families across Falkirk, the most important question is whether we are giving every young person the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to succeed.

There is plenty to be proud of locally. Falkirk’s schools perform above the Scottish average in literacy and numeracy. This achievement is down to the hard work of our pupils, teachers and families, and it deserves recognition. However, the longer-term PISA picture shows that Scotland has now recorded all-time low scores in maths and reading and has only shown marginal improvements in science.

For Falkirk, education must also connect young people with the opportunities available in our own communities. We have a proud industrial heritage and a changing local economy. Stronger links between schools, colleges and employers can help young people gain those opportunities, develop relevant skills and build rewarding careers here in Falkirk.

The borough’s children’s attendance rate in the last 12 months has reached 93.53 per cent, and persistent absence rate has lowered.

I’ve met with several colleges and universities, who have stressed the need for more secure funding, with multi-year guarantees, to secure learning resources and invest in the skills and talents of our young people.

We also need to ensure that a young person’s background or postcode does not determine their future.

That means identifying those who need additional support and helping pupils who have fallen behind to catch up, while also ensuring those capable of achieving more are properly challenged.

Education should not simply be about meeting expectations, it should be about helping every young person be the best they can be.

As your MSP, I will continue to press the SNP Government to raise standards, strengthen the skills young people leave school with and ensure our education system provides the best opportunities available across Falkirk.

But raising standards isn’t just something government can do, we all want to see our young people achieve more.

I want to bring people together to look at what we need to do differently to improve outcomes for young people across Scotland.

Every young person deserves the opportunity to go as far as their ability, determination and ambition can take them. Our job is to make sure they have the skills, support and opportunities to do just that.