SNP - CLARE HAUGHEY

Children and young people have been through a lot this year. The SNP are committed to supporting them, and giving them the best possible opportunities at every stage.

By August, the SNP will have almost doubled free, highquality childcare to 1,140 hours – saving families over £4,500 per child per year.

To enable this, infrastructure has been built locally, including new nurseries at Newton and Halfway.

Teacher numbers have grown every year of this parliament – to the highest figure for over a decade and, for primary schools, the highest since 1980.

The Attainment Scotland Fund has provided almost £12 million to head teachers in this constituency, directly improving local attainment.

The SNP introduced free university tuition and an SNP government will keep it free.

When we took office, just 60 per cent of school buildings were‘acceptable’. Now, 90 per cent are‘good’or‘satisfactory’.

Almost 1,000 schools have been replaced or refurbished, from St Cadoc’s to Bankhead.

I hope South Lanarkshire Council will look to build a secondary school in the Cambuslang East ward.

I’ve campaigned on this since 2016, and if re-elected, it will remain one of my priorities.

This next Parliament must be focussed on post-Covid recovery and renewal.

The SNP will support families by extending free breakfast and lunches to all primary pupils, including during holidays.

We’ll provide every pupil with a laptop or tablet, including a free internet connection and technical support. Additionally, we will invest £1 billion to continue upgrading schools.

When Labour were last in power, they spent billions on private finance – ensuring money went to shareholders’ pockets at the expense of pupils.

We need an experienced government, and a First Minister with the vision to enable our young people to flourish. The SNP is the only party with a plan for education.