Third of Scots schools still in need of repair

2 Oct 08
The condition of Scotland's schools is improving but almost a third of buildings are still crumbling or badly in need of repair, official figures have revealed.

03 October 2008

The condition of Scotland's schools is improving but almost a third of buildings are still crumbling or badly in need of repair, official figures have revealed.

A report published by the Scottish Government this week showed that 26% of schools were rated as being in a 'poor' condition and 5% were rated as 'bad'.

Opposition parties claimed that a 'hiatus' – caused by a decision to replace the Private Finance Initiative with a new method of funding capital projects – had contributed to the failure to improve the condition of the schools estate.

But Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop argued that £2bn had been committed to invest in schools and that, in the past year, 35,000 more children across Scotland received their lessons in new state-of-the-art classrooms.

The statistics showed that more than 175,000 pupils were found to be in schools with a 'poor' rating while nearly 26,000 were being taught in school buildings described as 'bad'.

However, the 26% of schools rated as 'poor' was an improvement on last year's figure of 31%. The proportion of buildings deemed to be in 'bad' condition remained the same.

Labour education spokeswoman Rhona Brankin said the SNP administration had failed to commission one new school building during the 18 months it had been in power.

She said the problem was the result of delays caused by uncertainty over the Scottish Futures Trust, an 'unelected quango', which is being established to replace the PFI and oversee the future funding of capital spending projects.

'Too many pupils and teachers are still working in crumbling schools,' Brankin said.

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