Class sizes matter says councillor

A Craigneuk councillor has hit out at the size of primary school classes in his ward during the last academic year.

Nathan Wilson was shocked to learn that 55 per cent of primary one to three classes in his ward had a class size of 18 or above in the previous school year.

The Scottish Government’s aspiration is to have class sizes of 18 or under.

Some schools are over the target by huge margins, including one class at Berryhill Primary in Craigneuk which had 31 pupils.

At Muirhouse Primary School, every single primary one to three class had more than 18 pupils.

Conservative councillor Wilson, who obtained the data from North Lanarkshire Council’s education department insists more must be done to reduce the number of pupils within classrooms.

He said: “It’s clear we can’t trust the SNP to deliver on their education promises.

“In 2007, they set a clear target that class sizes for P1 to P3 children would be 18 or lower and this is still an aspiration for the Scottish Government today.

“After 12 years of the SNP in power, over half of the 33 primary one, primary two and single stage primary three classes in my ward had more than 18 pupils during the last school year.”

Motherwell and Wishaw MSP Clare Adamson claimed it was hypocritical for the Tories to criticise the Scottish Government when North Lanarkshire is a Labour-run administration.

She said: “In 2018/19 alone, over 2,300 schools across Scotland have benefitted from Scottish Government investment through Pupil Equity Funding.

“North Lanarkshire was even allocated targeted funding from the Scottish Attainment Challenge with over £7.4 million provided to tackle the attainment gap in this area.

“Through the support of the Scottish Government, we have seen more direct investment in our schools and better equality of opportunity for our pupils.

“However, spending money allocated by the Scottish Government is at the discretion of the local authority.

“It is the obligation of the local authority to ensure that there are enough teachers to cover the number of pupils.

“That is why it seems hypocritical that the Conservatives, who claim to champion localism, are coming after the SNP in what is a Labour run administration propped up by the Tories.

“The Scottish Government is doing its job and putting money into our education system - with no help from architects of austerity at Westminster.

“Mr Wilson should target his ire at the causes of this problem and not the people trying to support our schools.”