So the First Minister has gone. While I don’t think the last eight years have been much good for education in Scotland, there is no doubt that there are many other things that she can look back on with some satisfaction and pride.
Among these things is The Promise, which was the Scottish Government’s response to the Independent Care Review after it reported in February 2020 and which had as its mission the need to “make sure every care experienced child and young person is safe, loved and respected”.
No one, surely, can argue with this, not just because that’s every child’s right but also because care-experienced children have, statistically, much worse life outcomes than other children; even the most pragmatic right-winger has to see that improving long-term opportunities and destinations for kids who have gone through the care system can only be a good thing. Factors like educational attainment, potential criminality, drug and alcohol addiction, and career opportunities need urgent consideration. All of us, I think would agree that young Scots who have been in care deserve a far more equal playing field.
However, as with the entire issue of closing the poverty-related attainment gap, of which care-experienced children are an important part, and on which, as I fear history will recall, the First Minister placed such importance personally, there are ways of going about this. And it does look now as if schools are going to be compelled to uphold one recommendation from The Promise Scotland, which is that care-experienced children should not be excluded.
