Free university tuition would be ‘enshrined’ in an indy Scotland’s constitution

FREE university tuition would be enshrined in a permanent Scottish constitution, a new independence paper has said.

Ministers have announced a raft of policy considerations on how education would be run under independence as part of the 12th prospectus paper in the Building a New Scotland series.

While education is a devolved issue, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said independence would give Scotland the full powers to improve on the outcomes of children. Alongside protecting free university tuition in a permanent constitution, the paper proposes enhancements to the length and level of paid maternity leave.

It could also see the current statutory two-week leave and pay provision for partners extended as well as providing additional weeks of shared parental leave taken at the end of the 52-week maternity period.

Independence would also see Scotland look to rejoin the EU, with that presenting opportunities to participate in exchange programmes such as Erasmus.

It would also see 16 and 17-yearolds given voting rights in every election covered by Scottish legislation.

Ms Gilruth also argued independence would give Scotland “full powers” to tackle child poverty, such as scrapping the two-child benefit limit, as set out in a previous social security paper.

She said: “Our education system shows why making decisions in Scotland, for Scotland, is better for people who live here.

“Since 1999, we have been able to take choices to improve opportunities for our young people, including abolishing tuition fees, expanding free school meals and investing in transformational early learning and childcare. But the outcomes for our children and young people continue to be harmed by decisions taken by the UK Government.”