Scottish Pupils Learning In New 'State-Of-The-Art' Classrooms

Scotland has experienced a huge move of pupils from rundown buildings into state-of-the-art classrooms this autumn, the Scottish Government has said.

In the space of only a few weeks, more than 10,000 young people moved into over 20 new schools equipped with state-of-the-art facilities fit for the 21st century.

And in the next 12 days, Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, will witness the impact of new school buildings on teachers, pupils and the local community as she formally opens four new schools.

Ms Hyslop said: "This Government expects that, in only four years, 100,000 more school pupils will be benefiting from a 21st Century education delivered in cutting-edge schools just like this.

"My visits over the next 12 days show that progress is being made in improving the school estate but it also highlights that this Government has inherited an estate which is in poor shape.


"We are committed to lifting 100,000 school pupils out of tired and crumbling school buildings providing them with cutting-edge facilities fit for the delivery of Curriculum for Excellence by 2011."

In the next 12 days, Ms Hyslop will be opening:

• Sanderson's Wynd Primary School in Tranent, East Lothian, with a school roll of over 300 which cost £10 million
• Stirling's Wallace High School with a school roll of over 900, one of eight schools in Stirling Council's schools project with a capital value of £90 million
• Calderside Academy in Blantyre with a school of around 1,350, one of 19 schools in South Lanarkshire Council's Secondary Schools Modernisation Programme with a capital value of £318 million
• Duloch Primary School, including Calaiswood Additional Support Needs school on Dunfermline's Duloch Campus, with a combined school roll of 380 and two of ten schools in Fife Council's schools project with a capital value of £63 million

With 35,000 pupils already in new classrooms since 2007, the Cabinet Secretary has pledged that the number of pupils being educated in crumbling schools will be cit by around a third in the lifetime of this parliament. The number of school in Condition C (poor) & D (bad) in 2008 was more than 800, covering around 200,000 young people.

Ms Hyslop stressed that Scotland's school building programme is continuing apace with 250 schools expected to be paid for and delivered during the life of this Parliament.

The Audit Scotland report made a number of recommendations, all of which the Scottish Government and COSLA have accepted. Discussions regarding future school estate policy, funding and delivery have already commenced, with the intention of publishing a new School Estate Strategy for the longer-term by Spring 2009.

(KMcA/JM)