20 February 2004
Moray Council in north-east Scotland has been warned to take rapid steps to improve its schools after recording one of the worst ratings ever awarded by school inspectors.
In a report published this week, the council rated only 'fair' on eight of the 11 benchmarks, and was told to provide 'clearer strategic direction'.
Education Minister Peter Peacock, who is preparing legislation to allow the Scottish Executive to intervene in persistently failing education authorities, said he expected to see rapid improvement. 'I expect urgent action from the council in preparing their action plan to achieve improvement in performance,' he said.
A council spokesman accepted that there were issues that 'need to be addressed'.
PFfeb2004
