My Day with the Education Secretary
I am Daniel Malone, a 15 year old pupil who attends St. Augustine’s High School in West Edinburgh. I was very keen to have a work placement at the Scottish Government as I am very interested in having a career in politics, however did not expect to have the privilege of shadowing the Education Secretary, Michael Russell.
My main aim was to see if, after working in the government, I still wanted to pursue a career in politics.
On the 4th of October 2010, I spent the first day of my week with Michael Russell. My day started by getting the train through to Glasgow where I met the Minister at a Hotel in the city centre. I was extremely nervous however felt welcomed by the Minister and his Private Secretary, Laura.
Our first event was a Curriculum for Excellence Stakeholders meeting in which we were given a presentation by children from Glasgow, ranging from primary pupils to those who had left school and started apprenticeships. Their presentation was about what the curriculum for excellence meant to them. It was enjoyable and involved those attending the meeting, including the Minister, playing educational games used in schools. This gave me a chance to see how meetings are structured.
After the Curriculum was discussed, the Minister, Laura and I were driven to the Scottish Government’s offices at Atlantic Quay, Glasgow. I was sitting in the front whilst the Minister and Laura were busy dealing with his mountain of paper work in the back.
I had tea with the Minister before attending an RNIB event in Atlantic Quay, where the Minister gave a speech to the conference and outlined a new scheme, along with people from Skills Development Scotland and Job Centre plus, working with blind and partially sighted people called ‘A Template for Success’. He also gave an interview with the RNIB’s radio station, after meeting two blind people who explained their problems and how the new scheme had helped them. This event showed me how the Minister delivers speeches and also how he adds jokes and examples during a speech making it appropriate for the audience.
The third event of the day was a debate at the University of Glasgow with the University and College Union, in which Minister was questioned on how the government planned to fund Higher Education. I was very impressed at the way he kept calm whilst they were ‘grilling’ him and how he managed to give good answers under pressure. At end of the debate the Minister and I were given a mug each by Lesley McIntosh the UCU President in Scotland, which was very nice of her.
The day gave me an insight into how chaotic and busy a Minister’s life is and what skills are needed to do such a demanding job. I had never seen so much paper work in my life! After this experience I definitely know the government is the place I would like to work in. I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with my classmates during a solo talk I have to do in English, and am also looking forward to spending another day with the Minister later in the week.
1 comment
Brilliant – will the Cabinet Secretary be rolling this out so that students across Scotland can have this sort of experience? Or could other politicians be persuaded to do this too? The more that young people experience what politicians do can only serve to develop an appreciation of the nature of politics and the political system.