To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage schools to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
The responsibility for the management and delivery of the Scottish curriculum is a matter for education authorities and head teachers, or in the case of independent schools, the boards of governors and head teachers. The Scottish Government's concordat with COSLA includes as a national outcome that our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and successful citizens. It is, therefore, the responsibility of each local authority and schools to consider the contribution that study opportunities such as Holocaust education will make to the national outcome and make them available to pupils within their own funding allocations.
We do not hold data on the number of schools which teach or do not teach pupils on the Holocaust. Currently, schools are encouraged to deliver education using the National 5-14 guidelines, published by Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS). These programmes offer a number of opportunities for young people to learn about citizenship education, which includes learning about the Holocaust. Curriculum for Excellence will provide opportunities for teachers to use the cross curricular theme of Citizenship education in a variety of different curriculum areas throughout the curriculum. There will also be rich opportunities through the social studies outcomes including the emphasis on the rights and responsibilities of individual and nations, and through the impending Religious Moral Education outcomes to foster the development of values, beliefs and attitudes.
There are no plans to update the Holocaust teaching packs prepared by LTS in 2000 and 2002. However, there are support materials and information on a number of LTS websites which support teaching about the events of the Holocaust. In particular, a key aspect of effective education for citizenship is developing the ability to recognise and respond thoughtfully to values and value judgements that are part of political, economic, social and cultural life.
Holocaust Memorial Day is included on the Enterprise wall planner which is sent to every school in Scotland. The date is also highlighted in e-bulletins which are sent to teachers and local authorities and The Times Educational Supplement Scotland and the LTS online service publicise good practice.