Anas Sarwar

That's life changing for them.

And right now we don't have a system that works for all those kids.

So we have to change that and get all those things.

And then when they leave school...

how do we make sure we don't have this culture in Scotland that just says if you go to university we're going to throw every kind of resource at you and you are the chosen ones but if you don't choose to choose to go to university you are somehow written off there is no one right path so how do we invest in our colleges how do we maintain free tuition but do it differently how do we invest in apprenticeships and how do we finally link

the growth areas in our economy to the skills we need in our country around defense, around AI, around technology.

All these are huge, huge opportunities for us.

I know that's a really long answer to what your question was, but fundamentally, I've always been a believer that the best route out of poverty is a good education, an adequate skill, and a well-paid job, rather than simply thinking about a welfare payment.

I believe in the welfare state, but it's a sticking plaster that doesn't challenge and end structural poverty.

How are we going to end structural poverty in Scotland?

is through good education, good skill, good well-paid job.

Why?

So every family will have conversations with their own household.

Every family will talk about decisions that they think are best for their child.

And one of the things I've been really conscious of...

is that different kids in different ways will have different challenges in their lives.

So I'm really lucky that I didn't have to worry about food on the table and bills when I was growing up.

My kids are lucky in that same sense too.

But how do we have an education system that works for every kid right across the country?

And that's why I'm so determined to fix that going forward.