Asked by: Duncan-Glancy, Pam (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the reported fall in the number of secondary school teachers in (a) computing studies, (b) ASN: behavioural support, (c) maths, (d) technical education, (e) religious education, (f) geography, (g) German, (h) physics, (i) home economics and (j) English between 2008 and 2023.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Since 2019 the number of teachers in Scottish schools has increased from 52,247 to 54,033 and the pupil teacher ratio has improved from 13.6 to 13.2.
Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff, and the Scottish Government continues to provide local authorities with £145.5 million in this year’s budget to protect teacher numbers more widely.
Our Teaching Bursary Scheme is offering a £20,000 payment to career changers who are looking to undertake teacher training in hard to fill STEM subjects – physics, maths, technical education, computing science, chemistry and home economics.
The Strategic Board for Teacher Education is also considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail, together with work to improving the promotion of teaching as a valued career.
Written Evidence Feb. 22 2024
Inquiry: Integrated EducationFound: IED0002 - Integrated Education New-Bridge Integrated College Pupils Written Evidence
Mentions:
1: Baroness Burt of Solihull (LD - Life peer) My Lords, this policy would increase religious discrimination in schools that the British taxpayer is - Speech Link
2: Lord Baker of Dorking (Con - Life peer) No Tory Education Secretary since 1945 has advocated them. - Speech Link
3: Baroness Barran (Con - Life peer) Eligibility for a place in a special school will be dependent on a child’s education, health and care - Speech Link
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's publication entitled 2022 School Workforce Census, published 8 June 2023, whether her Department has had discussions with any of the secondary schools that reported zero hours of religious education in Year 11 in the 2022 census.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The School Workforce Census collects information from a large sample of secondary schools in England for a typical week. This identifies hours taught of a subject, year group taught to, and the teacher. Data provided by schools is captured by their individual electronic timetabling systems. Results are weighted to produce national estimates but are not intended to be used as a means of monitoring compliance with the duty to teach religious education (RE), particularly as there may be other RE teaching time in schools that has not been recorded as schools may have allocated it under other subjects.
Following publication in June this year of 2022 census data, the department has not had discussion with schools that reported zero hours of religious education in Year 11 in the sample period.
Written Evidence Jan. 25 2024
Inquiry: Integrated EducationFound: IED0035 - Integrated Education Evangelical Alliance Written Evidence
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average Attainment 8 score was for (a) disadvantaged and (b) non-disadvantaged pupils who (i) were and (ii) were not entered for GCSE Religious Studies in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The data is included in the attached spreadsheet.
Oral Evidence Sep. 12 2023
Inquiry: Teacher recruitment, training and retentionFound: Association for Language Learning, Joint Mathematical Council of the UK, National Association of Teachers of Religious
Mentions:
1: Elliot Colburn (Con - Carshalton and Wallington) presence comes at a steep cost: Sri Lanka spends more on its defence than it does on healthcare and education - Speech Link
2: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) Taking away human rights affects religious belief, and taking away religious belief affects human rights—the - Speech Link
3: Andrew Mitchell (Con - Sutton Coldfield) The British strategy for defence engagement in Sri Lanka focuses primarily on professional military education - Speech Link
Asked by: Regan, Ash (Alba Party - Edinburgh Eastern)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consultation was carried out with the Catholic Church in the preparation of its draft document, Guidance on the Delivery of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) Education in Scottish Schools, and, in light of reported calls for "the re-insertion of the paragraphs relating to Denominational Education from the previous iteration of the guidance, which would reflect both the legal protection for schools with a Religious Character, and the previously supportive position of Scottish Government for Catholic schools", for what reason such paragraphs have been removed from the guidance.
Answered by Gilruth, Jenny - Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
Work to revise the current RSHP teaching guidance was taken forward with a group of key stakeholders, including the Scottish Catholic Education Service. This engagement included meeting to consider the basis of a section in the revised guidance relating to faith and belief, and sharing iterations of the revised guidance before the revised guidance was finalised ahead of public consultation.
The draft revised guidance makes direct reference to denominational schools, recognising that religious authorities with a role in education provide additional and complementary guidance on RSHP education. Links to resources provided by the Scottish Catholic Education Service are contained in the revised guidance. The new section on faith and belief also takes into account an inclusive approach to all faiths and makes clear that educational practitioners in all schools should ensure that RSHP teaching and learning is delivered sensitively and respectfully to faith groups.
Catholic schools in Scotland play a crucial and valued role in the education system. In recognition of the concerns raised, officials met with the Scottish Catholic Education Service in November and made it clear they will reinstate the text on denominational schools into the revised guidance.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce cases of (a) anti-Semitism and (b) Islamophobia on university campuses.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government condemns in the strongest possible terms any form of racial or religiously motivated harassment or violence. In the context of the conflict in the Middle East, there have been unprecedented rises in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents, which are abhorrent on every level. Universities should be welcoming and inclusive environments and higher education (HE) providers have a responsibility to take a zero tolerance approach to any form of racial or religious harassment. They have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and swiftly address reports of racism.
The Community Security Trust has reported an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents, which is totally unacceptable.
To support Jewish students, the Secretary of State for Education and I wrote to all universities on 11 October 2023, urging them to respond swiftly to hate-related incidents and actively reassure Jewish students that they can study without fear of harassment or intimidation. I wrote again to Vice Chancellors on 16 November 2023, emphasising that they must use disciplinary measures wherever appropriate, highlighting the importance of police engagement, and reiterating that student visas could be suspended where a foreign national is found to have committed or incited acts of racial hatred. This was one of the key actions set out in the five-point plan for tackling antisemitism in HE, which was published on 5 November 2023. The plan also involves:
On 22 November 2023, the government announced in the Autumn Statement an additional £7 million over three years to tackle antisemitism in education. The Quality Seal will be the cornerstone of this package for universities, providing a framework of measures that will make clear what good practice is in tackling antisemitism in HE, and making sure that universities are a safe and welcoming space for Jewish students and staff, as for all students and staff.
Anti-Muslim hatred is equally abhorrent and has no place in our society. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their religion or belief and the government is continuing to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it.
This government is proud to have funded Tell MAMA, a service that supports victims of anti-Muslim hatred, with over £6 million since their inception in 2012. Tell MAMA’s work has been recognised internationally as a good practice model in recording and monitoring anti-Muslim hate. The organisation has documented 2,010 Islamophobic incidents in the UK between 7 October 2023 and 7 February 2024. This represents a steep rise from the 600 it recorded for the same period the year previously. The government will not tolerate religious hatred towards Muslims and that is why the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities put in place an extra £4.9 million of protective security funding for Muslim mosques, faith schools and communities.
The new Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides physical protective security measures (such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) in both mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. Protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. Headteachers of eligible schools were contacted directly by the Home Office in January 2023 to register their interest.
Lastly, as my right hon. Friend, Minister Buchan stated on 4 March 2024, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities plan to appoint a new independent adviser on anti-Muslim hatred, and it will update the house shortly.