Independence would allow Scotland to further improve its education system, including a proposal to enshrine the government’s policy on free tuition in Scotland’s permanent constitution, according to a new paper published by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Jenny Gilruth.
‘Education and Lifelong Learning in an Independent Scotland’, the latest paper in the Building a New Scotland series, sets out the Scottish Government’s policy proposals for education following independence.
Independence would allow future Scottish Governments to:
- propose that the government’s policy on free university tuition becomes part of an independent Scotland’s permanent constitution, subject to the deliberations of a future Constitutional Convention
- use all the powers of an independent nation to fully tackle child poverty, helping to ensure every child in Scotland has the opportunity to reach their full potential
- incorporate - in full - the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law, further enhancing children’s rights
- consider enhancements to the length and level of paid maternity leave and extending the current statutory two week leave and pay provision for partners as well as providing additional weeks of shared parental leave taken at the end of the 52 week maternity period
- rejoin EU exchange programmes that benefit students such as Erasmus+ as part of the EU and foster good global connections by promoting international research exchange
