Making Our Classrooms Safe

A Scottish Labour government will make classrooms safe places to learn, the party has said today as it unveils new plans for schools.

Scottish Labour has warned that “chaos” in the classrooms is robbing kids of the chance to learn and putting teachers in an impossible position.

Poor behaviour, high levels of violence and low attendance are creating huge challenges in our education system – but Scottish Labour has warned that schools and teachers are not getting the direction or support they need to tackle these issues from government.

Ahead of its conference, Scottish Labour has set out a series of measures to strengthen discipline in schools and address the “lack of leadership” in our education system under the SNP.

The proposals include an expansion in campus cops, a national attendance register, new family support hubs, and a national charter on behaviour.

Scottish Labour has pledged to:

  • Establish a National Charter on Behaviour and Standards, providing national leadership on discipline in schools, empowering head teachers and setting out a clear pathway of consequences.
  • Expand the number of campus cops as part of our plans to restore community policing.
  • Introduce Family Network Coordinators, who will act as attendance officers, as part of new family support hubs in primary schools.
  • Create a national attendance register to help address high levels of school absences.
  • Improve workforce planning so that support staffing meets the needs of pupils and giving schools funding certainty so they can offer teachers and education staff permanent or long-term contracts to address the scandal of qualified teachers being unable to find work.
  • Ban mobile phones in classrooms so that schools are safe and calm places for learning once again.
  • Back a UK-wide ban on social media for under 16s to protect young people.

Commenting, Scottish Labour Education spokesperson Paul O’Kane said “Scotland’s education system was once the envy of the world, but under the SNP it has been allowed to decline.

“Too many kids are being let down by an education system that doesn’t work for them.

“The SNP has washed its hands of its responsibility deal with the challenges we face – from discipline to attendance to phones to violence there has been a total lack of leadership from the SNP.

“This is not as good as it gets and we owe it to the next generation to fix the mess the SNP has made of our schools.

“A Scottish Labour government will end the chaos in our classrooms and make them safe places to learn once again.

“We will give schools and teachers the backing they need to restore order and we take action on the scandal of school absences.

“In May we can vote to give kids a better future by electing a Scottish Labour government.”