Education (Amendment 2)
The first question is, that amendment S6M-00204.2, in the name of Oliver Mundell, which seeks to amend motion S6M-00204, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on education, be agreed to.
S6M-00204.2: As an amendment to motion S6M-00204 in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville (Education), leave out from “and parents have faced” to end and insert “, parents, families and carers have faced over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic; commends the extraordinary work done by university, college, school, nursery and childcare staff over the last year to maintain education and childcare; notes, by way of contrast, the absence of meaningful and timely support from the Scottish Government and its education agencies and the pressure and anxiety that this has caused; recognises that there were significant challenges in Scottish education before the pandemic as a result of the First Minister’s broken promise to make education the number one priority, and calls on the Scottish Government to act with more urgency to reverse damaging cuts to teacher numbers, to bring all classrooms up to an acceptable standard and reduce class sizes, to put in place catch-up plans, including a tutoring scheme to make up for lost learning, to address the shortfall in college funding and to set out plans to enable in-person, small group learning at universities in order to prevent a generation of young people being lost to COVID-19.”

Original motion(S6M-00204):
That the Parliament recognises the difficult circumstances that children, young people, students and parents have faced over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic; commends the extraordinary work done by university, college, school and childcare staff over the last year to maintain education and childcare; recognises that the pandemic has nevertheless had an impact on the health, wellbeing and education of many children and young people across Scotland, particularly the most disadvantaged; agrees that work to address these impacts, and remove the barriers to learning that too many still face, should be at the heart of Scotland’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, and welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to implement ambitious plans to support the education system during its first 100 days.

Original motion(S6M-00204):
That the Parliament recognises the difficult circumstances that children, young people, students and parents have faced over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic; commends the extraordinary work done by university, college, school and childcare staff over the last year to maintain education and childcare; recognises that the pandemic has nevertheless had an impact on the health, wellbeing and education of many children and young people across Scotland, particularly the most disadvantaged; agrees that work to address these impacts, and remove the barriers to learning that too many still face, should be at the heart of Scotland’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, and welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment to implement ambitious plans to support the education system during its first 100 days.