Education Secretary announces new centre of teaching excellence for Scotland

Scotland is to set up a new centre of excellence for teaching, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth has announced.

Ms Gilruth said the centre could help make the country a “world leader in new approaches to learning and teaching”.

It will be developed by the Scottish Government along with teachers and professional bodies, with the next steps for its establishment to be announced after discussions have taken place with these groups.

Ms Gilruth, a former teacher before becoming an MSP, said it would be part of wider educational reforms in Scotland.

Stressing the impact that “excellent” teachers have on youngsters, the Education Secretary added the facility could help with the “national mission to close the attainment gap and deliver excellent learning and teaching for our children”.

Announcing the new centre at the SNP conference in Aberdeen, Ms Gilruth said that “excellent learning and teaching must be the foundation of all that we do in Scottish education”.

She told party activists: “I’m sure you can all remember a teacher who made a difference in your life; who inspired and encouraged you to lift your ambitions.

“I want to ensure that all of our hard-working teachers are supported and empowered in our classrooms.

“That is why, as part of the education reform agenda, I can announce today that we will establish a new Centre of Teaching Excellence, making Scotland a world leader in new approaches to learning and teaching.”

Promising it would be “co-designed with our teachers and professional associations”, she added that the new centre would “put Scotland at the forefront of innovative research”.