PAT SCOTLAND WELCOMES EDUCATION SECRETARY'S SPEECH

20 June 2007

PAT Scotland has welcomed the speech by Cabinet Secretary for Education Fiona Hyslop (20 June 2007).

PAT Professional Officer (Scotland) Jim O’Neill said: "We welcome the Education Secretary's announcement on class sizes. This is an important issue affecting the quality of children's education. Teachers can give more attention to individual pupils in smaller classes, and pupil behaviour can also improve in small groups, which are generally more conducive to learning.

"However, smaller classes may mean more classes in some schools, which may, in turn, require more classrooms to be built. We hope the necessary resources will be made available.

"PAT is also pleased that Fiona Hyslop is to address the issue of probationer teachers who are finding it difficult to secure a permanent post. The Executive has made a considerable investment in their training and the probationers themselves have made a serious commitment in preparing to become teachers. It is wrong that such commitment and talent should be unemployed, especially when teachers are being recruited from overseas.

"The Education Secretary is clearly committed to raising standards in Scottish schools so we hope that she will take on board the full implications of the recent Equal Opportunities Commission Formal Investigation into the Role and Status of Classroom Assistants. PAT will be pressing her to move quickly to implement its main recommendations as a key part of improving the quality of Scottish education.

"PAT is looking for a concerted effort by all concerned to raise the status, morale and remuneration of classroom assistants, who play such an important part  in Scotland’s schools. 

"We also welcome the  previous  pledge to increase the provision of free nursery education for three and four-year-olds and hope that the necessary training and resources will be available to implement this.

"PAT Scotland is looking forward to working with Fiona Hyslop to achieve our shared aim of improving Scottish education."