Schools to lose funding to help close poverty gap as programme is axed

Schools in Lanarkshire are to lose direct funding to help them close the poverty gap – but the Scottish Government insist they’ll benefit from a revamped system.

A total of 20 schools in the region currently receive extra cash through the Scottish Attainment Challenge Schools Programme, with nearly £2million going across the area to help schools with a“significant proportion”of pupils facing challenges.

However, the entire programme is now being scrapped in an education shake-up of the government’s Challenge Authorities scheme.

Pam Duncan-glancy, the Labour list MSP, said:“the cuts to the Scottish

Attainment Challenge Schools Programme mean millions of pounds of cuts to the direct funding of these schools.

“Wider reform to the Attainment Challenge is also being cut by £25.5 million, and it will be Scotland’s poorest pupils that will be hardest hit. The government can try and put as much spin as they want on this, but we’re a long way from closing the poverty related attainment gap.”