SNP - STEPHANIE CALLAGHAN

As your SNP candidate for Uddingston and Bellshill and mum of three school aged children, I know first hand how vital high quality education is.

Scotland’s SNP government already invests more per pupil in education than the rest of the UK, but we plan to do so much more.

Our education plans start with our youngest learners, because we know that early learning boosts educational attainment. That’s why the SNP has almost doubled FREE, FUNDED nursery hours to 30 hours per week.

The‘game changing’scottish Child Payment, recently introduced by the SNP Government, will double from £10 to £20, lifting a further 30,000 children out of poverty.

We know, however, there are still too many families in Uddingston and Bellshill struggling to make ends meet.

Quite simply, children can’t learn when they’re hungry, so the SNP will extend free school meals, including breakfast and lunch, to every primary school aged child in Scotland during both term time and holidays.

Covid has impacted all our lives, with our young people hit particularly hard.

That is why the SNP will invest more in community mental health services, to provide help to our children where most needed.

As we recover from Covid, the SNP will ensure that every school pupil has a free laptop or tablet and free internet access to enable successful learning.

Beyond school, a new Youth Guarantee will give every young person in Uddingston and Bellshill an opportunity of work, training or fully funded further and higher education.

In summary, education is at the heart of SNP’S offer at this election to the people of Uddingston and Bellshill, from tackling the digital divide to providing more equal opportunities, we have a comprehensive educational plan that will transform lives locally.