#InternationalDayOfEducation

It’s International Day of Education tomorrow, celebrating the importance of education as a human right to tackle poverty, promote peace, and to develop skills. 

This year’s theme – the power of youth in co-creating education – is a fundamental basis of our work. 

Children and Young People’s Commissioner Nicola Killean has been consistently clear that children must be at the centre of education reform in Scotland, they must be listened to and their participation embedded at local, regional, and national levels. 

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) says that every child has the right to an education that develops their personality, talents, and abilities to their full potential. But children have told us that’s not always happening in Scotland.  

Children and young people’s meaningful and inclusive participation in education reform is vital to realising their rights.  

To mark International Day of Education, here’s some what we’ve been doing – often alongside our Young Advisors – over the last year or so… 

Report into improving the education system 

In March, we published ‘This is our lives, it matters a lot”: Putting children’s rights at the heart of education. Our report – the culmination of a year of listening to children’s experiences of learning – urged the Scottish Government and authorities to redesign education, so it works for ALL children. The Commissioner made multiple recommendations and criticised the government over the slow pace of change. 

Her recommendations include:  

• fundamental reform of the support and resourcing for children who have additional support needs,       

• more equitable access to subject choice, and 

• ensuring the purpose of education is to prioritise the development of a child’s full potential, not be dominated by exam results. 

Young Advisors 

Our group of Young Advisors worked with us on the challenges young people face in education, and shared their findings in a film launched in March. They visited schools and heard from children and young people about access to education, teacher shortages, children’s rights in schools, and changes they want to see. 

Our Young Advisors met representatives from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) to discuss how to improve school inspections. They also told the United Nations what they think about aspects of the right to education in Scotland.   

One Young Advisor spoke at the UN in Geneva about the right to education, and two worked with peers from across Europe on the right to physical health, including within school. 

Children whose rights are most at risk 

We have committed to targeted work with groups of children whose rights are most at risk. 

We commissioned charity Who Cares? Scotland to produce a report, published in June, on the barriers care experienced children – those who are or have been in care such as children’s homes, foster care, or who are looked after by relatives or at home with social work involvement – face in education. It found too many care experienced children and young people are not getting the support they need to thrive in education. After the report was published, the Commissioner called for the Scottish Government to immediately scrutinise the use of informal exclusions and part-time tables to ensure that the rights of care experienced children and young people are respected, protected and fulfilled.    

We are supporting two groups of children and young people who have additional support needs within education to creatively share their experiences and their suggestions for what can make learning easier for them. Children’s experiences need to be at the heart of improvements in schools.  

Shaking up education 

In December, the Commissioner hosted the Shoogle Lab, bringing together children, education leaders, world-famous musician Dame Evelyn Glennie, and participation expert Professor Laura Lundy. The focus was improving children’s participation across all areas of the education system, and Prof Lundy wrote about the benefits of embedding the right to participation in all areas of education. A child-friendly version is also available. 

Before the session, children in primary schools took part in play-based activities to help shape the Shoogle Lab. They shared views on who gets listened to in school, how they are listened to, and on what topics and decisions they are included in. The Commissioner also met third sector and parent organisations to hear from them.  

Good practice  

We have a statutory duty to promote good practice, and pledged in our 2024-28 Strategic Plan to share examples of adults working well to fulfil children’s rights so others can learn from it. These include: 

• highlighting a support programme for headteachers in the Highlands and Moray, giving them six supervision sessions with an educational psychologist to talk about issues they want to raise in complete confidence, and  

• covering the wide-ranging work of online learning platform e-Sgoil, which provides study guidance, supply teachers, and support for children who can’t go to school. 

Pressure on government 

The Commissioner has consistently called for fundamental change in the education system, and warned that wide-ranging problems aren’t being addressed. For example, in January 2025, she called on the Scottish Government to put children at the centre of reform, in February she warned about children with additional support needs being failed, and in August she highlighted the pressure of exams,  

She has continued to meet education leaders and the Cabinet Secretary for Education to bring children’s priorities directly to duty-bearers and to hold them accountable. 

During our work on the Education (Scotland) Act 2025, we made it clear that much more than just organisational change was needed. We highlighted the importance of culture and called for children’s right to participate in decision-making in new education bodies to be strengthened.  

We’ve continued to press for statutory guidance on restraint and support Daniel Johnson’s Bill which will help ensure that any use of restraint in schools is a last resort to keep the child or another person safe. 

What’s next? 

Children have asked us to work on education as a priority issue. We have asked education duty-bearers to respond to our recommendations in a child-friendly manner and shared a video update on this. Children will remain at the heart of our education work as we continue to press the Scottish Government and education duty-bearers for much needed reform.