By Elizabeth Quigley, BBC Scotland's political correspondent

As New Year resolutions go, pledging to make Scotland a better place is quite an undertaking.

But first on the agenda for Labour and Liberal Democrat MSPs who are back at work after the festive break is the future of their partnership agreement.

With tuition fees on the table for discussion, the coalition is on the brink of being the shortest as well as the first peacetime one since the war.

When Tony Blair first introduced the mantra of "education, education, education", he could not have imagined the pledge would backfire quite so spectacularly in Scotland - in higher education at least.

The months ahead might also see the Lib Dems rediscover PR - public relations that is - by trying to show that whatever student hardship package the government arrives at is a victory for the smaller party.

They would be wise to promote the deal to their advantage by trying to stress that without the Lib Dems' involvement in government, maintenance grants and other help for those at university or college would have been nothing more than a hope in the hearts of students.

Keeping coalition strong

The party leader Jim Wallace will have to find a way of ensuring that his party is not seen to have sold out the principle of abolishing student fees - while still coming to some agreement to keep the coalition together.

It will be an impressive achievement if he can pull it off - watched closely by both Labour and the Lib Dems in London.

Less than a year after the Scottish Parliament elections, all the parties competing to win the Ayr by-election will face the first real test of both their own popular standing and of the parliament itself.

On what will undoubtedly be a blustery March in the west coast town, the politicians will be out in force for what looks likely to be a three-horse race.

And with the visual aid of Ayr racecourse close at hand, we can expect many more racing analogies in the coming weeks.

Tories hopeful

Labour holds the seat - but the incumbent MSP Ian Welsh resigned last month complaining he was languishing on the backbenches.

The Tories came within 25 votes of winning the constituency last May - but its former Westminster MP Phil Gallie who looked like the party's best chance of winning has chosen not to stand.

And the SNP are impressive by-election battlers - but still have some way to go to break through between Labour and the Tories in a constituency which was not high on their target list last May.

Inside the Parliament, fox-hunting is set to be on the agenda along with transport policy and a national arts strategy.

Although hunting with hounds is sure to grab the headlines, class sizes and the increasing number of beggars on our streets are probably more important to the vast majority of Scots.

The first comprehensive look at one of Scotland's biggest industries - tourism - will also be unveiled.

As other New Year resolutions are broken across Scotland, MSPs know they will be held to account very publicly for keeping to their promises.