Education is central to Labour’s thinking. We understand that young people are Scotland’s future, so to build a better future, we need to have the best possible education for every young Scot.

Des McNulty is the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Justice and leads our team in this area. He is supported by Ken Macintosh (schools), Claire Baker (further and higher education) and Karen Whitefield (children and early years).

Our aspiration is nothing less that, once again, we have the best education system in the world. Our aspiration is that no-one is left behind and everyone can develop to the best of their potential. Education is life-changing, life-enhancing and life-essential. Education gives young people chances and aspiration.

As we seek to come through the global economic crisis, we cannot waste the talent of a single person.

The sad reality is that across the country, we see education cuts the like of which Scotland has not seen for 20 years. We have an education minister unable or unwilling to keep the promises she herself made. We have an unprecedented situation: teachers without jobs at the same time as schools without teachers.

We have a vision for a different kind of Scotland: with opportunity for all children, with the support for all pupils, with teachers passionate about their subject because they have great facilities and great backup – a Scotland where education is valued once again and where we become the first country in the world to eradicate illiteracy.

For Labour, there are four urgent priorities for schools.

First, build new schools. The SNP has cancelled Labour’s school building programme. They have not commissioned any new schools that were not in the pipeline before 2007. Teachers and parents know that children learn better in schools that are fit for purpose, and Labour believes that every pupil and community in Scotland should have the chance of a new school.

Second, make sure pupils can read. Labour, like parents, expect children to be able to read by the time they leave primary school. The number who cannot do so are going up. That’s why Labour founded our Literacy Commission, with experts from teaching and authors, such as Ian Rankin. The Commission will be reporting shortly and we want the SNP to put party difference aside and work with out Commission in the interest of Scotland.

Third, we need to tackle violence and bad behaviour. It is unacceptable that pupils and teachers face violence in the workplace. The actions of a small minority can ruin the education of everyone else. Labour wants to see good behaviour in every class rooms. We want to see every school have a discipline code, with support bases for those who needed it, so bad behaviour can be tackled at the lowest possible level. But when things get out of hand, we want more powers for headteachers to permanently exclude disruptive pupils, and more rights for teachers and schools to discipline pupils who persistently misbehave. That means reversing cuts and staffing schools properly.

Fourth, we need class sizes that are right for every pupil and every teacher. The SNP class size policy is incoherent. They want a P3 pupil to be in a class of 18, but think its ok for them to move into a class of 33 the next year.

Labour wants to see class sizes led by experts so we can agree with teachers and schools the best class sizes for every class.

But education isn’t just about schools. Colleges and universities require support from government – but they’re not getting it from the SNP. Student numbers in Scotland are falling for the first time since 1999. As we emerge from a downturn, we will need world-class universities and colleges to remain competitive and give our young people the education they need to lead the world.