Labour MSP Iain Gray says that "52% of pupils with learning difficulties do not feel they're getting the support they need."

In January our education correspondent Jamie McIvor reported that for children who require additional help and support at school, education can sometimes be a challenge.

For many years, the presumption has been to keep children in mainstream schools whenever possible.

The number of children classed as having additional support needs (ASN) has gone up dramatically in recent years while the number of specialist support teachers has dropped.

The term additional support needs covers anything from a physical disability or dyslexia - to a child who needs some extra support after a family bereavement.

But it also includes children who may have serious behavioural or emotional issues - or autism.

Read more here.

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Scottish Labour's education spokesperson Iain Gray says the cabinet secretary is right to have launched a consultation into the presumption of mainstreaming.

Mr Gray says: "We've certainly come a very long way."

He says now the stress is on living,participating and learning in the community, which is supported across wider society.

The Labour MSP says there is now "more need but less provision".

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Labour MSP Iain Gray is leading in this debate for his party.

Conversative MSP Liz Smith warns that: "Sometimes a decision made by a school is made on a financial basis rather than an educational one."

She says: "We have some fantastic specialist schools."

Ms Smith does suggest that the interpretation of the legislation is a problem.

She also notes a "central dilemma is to balance the strong social reasons to keep a child in mainstream school with the needs of the child'.

The Tory MSP concludes by saying the Conservatives are "very happy" to support the government motion today and the Labour amendment.

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Support staff in Scotland's schools are feeling exhausted, undervalued and stressed, according to a trade union.

Unison said 1,841 jobs supporting teachers in schools had disappeared since 2010.

The posts included classroom assistants, technicians, cleaners and librarians.

The union said the cuts were impacting on the workload of the support staff who remained - with teachers and pupils also affected.

Council umbrella group Cosla said the job losses were due to cuts in government funding for local authorities.

Read more here.

Concservative MSP Liz Smith says that: "Happily I think we've come a very long way. There has been a lot of very good progress, but also increasing complexity."

She explains: "There is a much better detection of pupils who have specific problems and a huge increase.

"That current definition of pupils with Additional Support Needs (ADN) was 98,000, in the last five years that's now 173,500.

"While the detection is good news, obviously that put additional pressure on our schools."

Ms Smith uses her amendment to highlight:

• the significant pressure that has been placed on local authorities by the commitment to mainstreaming as a result of the diminished number of teachers, especially on those who are trained to support pupils with additional support needs (ASN)
• the large increase in the number of pupils identified with ASN
• concern the comments of trainee teachers at the meeting of the Education and Skills Committee on 10 May 2017 that some aspects of teacher training courses do not adequately equip them to cope with the plurality of needs and behaviours of ASN pupils

She calls on the Scottish government to address these concerns which she says have meant that some young people are not currently receiving the best support possible.

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Liz Smith rises to open for the Conservatives.

Last December we reported Scotland faces a "lost generation" of children with additional support needs (ASN) if funding cuts continue,.

That was according to a network of support groups.

The Scottish Children's Services Coalition (SCSC) said the number of pupils with ASN had increased by more than 16% since 2013.

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This was as the number of learning support teachers was falling, it said.

The group warned a lack of action would make closing the educational attainment gap "extremely challenging".

The Scottish government said it continued to work with partners in local authorities to build on the attainment improvements already made.

Mr Swinney says: " We must work to improve the experience of inclusion for all people."

He announces a consultation on guidance for the presumption of mainstreaming.

The education secretary says research will run alongside the consultation and will be published by the end of the summer in 2018.

He says there is also work that can be done now to improve the experience of children being mainstreamed.

Education Secretary John Swinney says: "More young people with additional support needs are achieving a more positive destination than ever before."

Mr Swinney pays tribute to teachers, professionals and parents for their roles.

He adds: "We must also acknowledge there is more that needs to be done.

"The right decisions are not being made for all children and young people.

"We remain committed to mainstreaming. The Scottish approach is already world leading."

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• 95% of pupils identified with ASN are in mainstream schools.
• The number of pupils identified with ASN in local authority primary and secondary schools increased by 78% between 2011 and 2016 from from 91,550 to 163,594 (24.1% of pupils).
• The number of ASN teachers fell by 20% over the same period from 2,252 to 1,799.
• Analysis also shows that the number of support staff in local authority primary and secondary schools dropped by 8% between 2011 and 2016, from 19,661 to 17,923.10.

Image source, bbc

Mr Swinney says there must be a diversity in educational provision, including mainstream schools and specialist schools.

The education secretary says there will be no change to the mainstreaming legislation.