Tomorrow I have been invited to one of the most important events – on a personal level – of this legislature. I will be presenting Graduation Certificates to the Alternative Learning Programme students who have completed a level 3 (on a par with ‘O’ level standard) in welding, at Motherwell Bridge in Hal Far.

I will not bore you with the details of my schedule but, if I’m perfectly honest, these days are the ones that make it count. We started the Alternative Learning Programme in 2013, as an emergency policy. The idea was simple: take the fifth form students who were not going to sit for their ‘O’ levels and provide them with a technical and vocational programme so they did not waste their final months of secondary schooling studying for an exam they were not going to take anyway. As with every new initiative, it was not easy. The people who were responsible for these programmes faced a long road in front of them but they have done an amazing job over these past three years. 

We no longer lose secondary school students because there is no vocational or technical alternative. Events such as the one tomorrow are usually very emotional, because their parents had always been told that their children did not have an educational future. What this kind of programmes proves is that it is not the individual that is incapable, it is the system that does not fit. This is further emphasised by the fact that those branded as failures in a traditional secondary school classroom are usually the high achievers in the workshop or when working with their hands. It is a cliché saying this, but I truly believe that every person has bag-loads of potential and it is up to us, as educators, parents and policy-makers, to release that potential.

I am not one who believes that the sun rose in March 2013, when the Labour Party was asked to serve. I do think that, over the previous 25 years, a lot of good had been achieved in the local education system. However, there were a lot of problems and challenges. Many felt that it was too structured, too inflexible and that the recipe seemed to have been based on a one-size-fits-all model – with huge schools and centralised governance.

We have completely changed these policies by introducing different and varied programmes to suit different children and young people. We have empowered schools and de-centralised decision-making as much as possible, while working to minimise the administrative load on schools so that they can focus on the learning aspect.

I think we have done a lot of work on the general well-being of our children. Overworked, stressed and tired children are not happy children. We have done a great deal on this front, but I think this will be one of the priorities in the near future. We must work more on making sure our children have an appropriate amount of work and a sensible schedule. We must not kill their love for education, creativity and sense of curiosity by over-burdening them with ‘to-dos’. Some schools have made inroads on this through sound homework policies that limit the workload and others have completely abolished homework, but no matter what the end policy looks like, the absolute priority should remain the general well-being of the child. This is not something that only the parents tell us, but also the children themselves.

It is often the Ministers who appear in front of the cameras and the media, but it is the people who work in our schools to whom this country owes so much. A lot of parents know this because they see the dedication to their job shown by our heads of schools, teachers and LSAs every day. A lot has been achieved in education over the past four years, and we have worked hard to build on what we had and change what we felt the system was lacking. All the success in education is due to the hard work of countless people, mostly behind the scenes, whose purpose in life is to help others.

In education, results can only be seen over a period of time but we have had some immediate results – such as tomorrow’s graduation and other policies like the free revision classes for ‘O’ level students who failed their May exam, and had the chance to take lessons to catch up with their studies and try again in the September session. I think we have also helped bring education closer to the real world out there, through engagement with industry and commerce. We have given second chances to and helped those students who were unfairly branded as being lost and without hope.

When these policies work and help people, it makes all the rough days in politics worth it. And that brings me neatly to tomorrow’s event. I hope the youngsters who graduate tomorrow help to inspire many others to continue their education – to reach their potential and grow. On the other hand, we politicians must create an environment that debates ideas and how to move forward. In no other sector more than education does it matter so much to focus on the priorities rather than on empty political bickering.

This electoral campaign that we have seen has not been based on who has the best ideas and proposals, but on a polluted kind of politics: a world where accusations and crude fabrications are thrown about way too easily and where facts have often become secondary. We must do better as a country and as a political class, because waiting for us to come up with the solutions for many challenges are our clients – the people; in education, it is our children. No matter who prevails next week, we must unite as a country and move forward so that we can focus our energy on things that really matter and that make a difference in people’s lives.