Christina spoke in the debate on 3 December:

“The Labour and Lib Dem years were years marked by failure. They were lost years for a generation of Scottish pupils, but the SNP years—though only a quarter of the time the last lot spent in office—have been years of success and achievement. We have delivered the smallest ever class sizes and the free school meals pledge—we should nourish children’s bodies and minds. We have delivered on matching Labour’s school building programme brick for brick…We have delivered a massive increase in nursery provision, restored free education, improved funding for teachers’ professional development and taken action on apprenticeships…

“The SNP Government has pumped capital resources into our universities to start addressing the massive backlog of repairs and development that built up under the last lot, introduced the ScotAction package to help apprentices through the tough times as Labour’s recession started to bite and sorted out the mess in additional support needs that the last bunch left behind. Fiona Hyslop steered the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Bill through the Parliament and brought in protection for rural schools.

“The SNP Scottish Government has delivered real improvements, real change and real benefits to school education. It has shown that Scottish education can be a world leader again and can give Scottish pupils the advantages that we believe they deserve. All that has held Scotland back is the lack of political will that previous Administrations demonstrated and, now that things are moving in the right direction, we should keep adding momentum.”

Read the full text of Christina’s speech at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1203-02.htm#Col21829.