Thank you, Presiding Officer. David Rees said that education is a gift, but I think that education is actually a fundamental right. Because without a good education how can the child grow into an adult with a good education and with the capability to contribute to their own lives, to the lives of the people they know and love, and to the lives of our country? And how will our country grow and develop? And how will our culture be sustained if we don’t have a well-educated population? So, I say that education is a right.

These PISA results have once again reminded us that we are not where we need to be. Neil McEvoy, I would like to say to you that ‘The Learning Country’—that’s where it all started to go wrong. Because if you take away absolutely every single benchmark and standard assessment, then you are casting teachers adrift in a desert, in the dark, with no stars, no sextant, no compass, and no wonder that when the daylight comes everyone is in a very different place. That’s what started to go wrong.

I believe that we have an opportunity to put that right. I believe that we need inspirational leaders. We need outstanding teachers, we need decent facilities, and we need an engaged and happy student body. We need a curriculum that is fit for today—a curriculum that isn’t wedded to the 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s or the 1980s, but actually suits the 10-year-olds, the 14-year-olds and the 16-year-olds of today. So, I have no problem with the fact that we've looked at Donaldson—there is much to commend it—but I think that Darren Millar's point about pause and reflect is very key, because Scotland are sliding, and some of the ones who've always done well—Sweden, other countries—are not doing so well. We need to look, we need to benchmark. So, inspirational leaders, excellent teachers—and, let's be clear, not all of our teachers are excellent. A lot of them are, but the ones who aren't are dragging the other ones down and making their jobs so difficult. We need continuous professional development, schools that children enjoy going to, an educational system that grabs their attention and holds it for their entire school journey, and we need to be able to benchmark and assess. Poland can do it; we can do it. If anybody can do it, this country of ours can surely, surely improve our education system.

Donaldson could well be the way forward, but, you know, if you're on a dark road at night and you know it's the way forward, but you suddenly glimpse a sign that says there could be a cliff ahead, the wise person just pauses and checks that that way is ahead. We do not want a repeat of ‘The Learning Country’. We do not want to lose this opportunity. Why? Because the saddest thing is a child or a young person who leaves school at 16 and they do not have enough qualifications to go and get the job that they want to do, they cannot get a job that's good enough for them to have a happy family life, to have their own kids, to get their own house, to do all the things that we all want to do—go on holidays, the rest of it. And that comes down to the fact that they do not have a good education.

Presiding Officer, I would also just like to say one more comment. We have to remember that just under a quarter of our children, Minister, have additional learning needs. No wonder. No wonder. We have to bring them into the fold. Thank you.