(1)For the purposes of their duty under section 3(2) of this Act, an education authority, after consulting such bodies as appear to the authority to be representative of teachers and parents within their area and of persons, other than teachers, who are employed in schools within that area and after giving children, young persons and such other persons within that area as appear to the authority to have an interest in the matter an opportunity to make their views known, shall, by such date in 2001 as the Scottish Ministers may, after consulting the education authorities, determine (one date being so determined for all the authorities) and thereafter by that date annually, prepare and publish a statement setting objectives.
(2)The statement so prepared and published shall be known as the authority’s “annual statement of education improvement objectives” and shall include an account—
(a)of the ways in which the authority will seek to involve parents in promoting the education of their children;
(b)of the ways in which they will, in providing school education, encourage equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements; and
(c)of—
(i)the ways in which; or
(ii)the circumstances in which,
they will provide Gaelic medium education and, where they do provide Gaelic medium education, of the ways in which they will seek to develop their provision of such education.
(3)In paragraph (b) of subsection (2) above, “equal opportunities” and “equal opportunity requirements” have the same meanings as in the exceptions to section L2 of Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46); in paragraph (c) of that subsection, “Gaelic medium education” is teaching by means of the Gaelic language as spoken in Scotland; and the references in those paragraphs to providing education shall be construed as including providing it in pursuance of such arrangements as are mentioned in section 3(3) of this Act.
(4)The objectives shall be set—
(a)in respect of each of the national priorities in education and by reference to such measures of performance as are published under paragraph (b) of section 4(1) of this Act; and
(b)in respect of such other matters and by reference to such other measures of performance, if any, as the authority consider appropriate.
(5)If, during the twelve months following the date of publication of an annual statement of education improvement objectives, there is a change of circumstances relevant to the statement and that change is of such significance that the education authority conclude that the objectives should be revised, they shall prepare and publish a supplementary statement revising the objectives accordingly.
(6)An education authority shall, by such date in 2002 or in 2003 as the Scottish Ministers may, after consulting the education authorities, determine (one date being so determined for all the authorities) and thereafter by that date annually, prepare and publish a report as to their success—
(a)in meeting the objectives set in the annual statement of education improvement objectives most recently published by them; or
(b)if there has been published under subsection (5) above a supplementary statement revising those objectives, in meeting the objectives as so revised.