29 September 2000
A pilot project is already under way in East Ayrshire, but Henry McLeish, the Scottish Executive's minister with responsibility for lifelong learning, said that it would be extended.
A third of Scottish school pupils leave at the age of 16 and only 43.4% complete the full six years of secondary school education.
Under the initiative, pupils in the areas where most leave early will be offered £40 a week to stay on. This is part of a three-year spending programme said to increase investment in enterprise, jobs and learning by £300m.
McLeish said: 'The investment in learning is crucial to future economic growth and prosperity. I want to use a significant part of this increase to bring in more students from groups in the community who have not entered higher education in a major way.'
PFsep2000
