The importance of play in relation to mental health and educational achievement cannot be overstated, as was recognised in all party manifestoes going into the election. Parliamentary committees should investigate how play impacts the wellbeing of children, and scrutinise the government’s commitment to the wellbeing of students and young people. The Scottish Government has recognised the value of play with £20 million funding for a national “summer of play”. This followed a recommendation by the cross-agency Covid Education Recovery Group that the summer programme focus on the wellbeing of children and young people as opposed to academic ‘catch-up’. Committees should investigate the success of this and explain why this is only necessary for one summer. The Scottish Government’s current policy initiatives related to Early Years, while commendable, need to be sustainable delivered at scale. An holistic approach needs to be reflected in implementation at a local level and the Scottish Government should support and incentivise local integration of service to remove barriers to integration.
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation