Budget boost for only two schools
Stirling Council has been given an education budget boost – but only two schools will benefit.
A primary and secondary school are to share more than £181,000 from the Scottish Government fund to increase attainment levels of the most deprived pupils.
For session 2018-19, Raploch Primary will receive an allocation of £101,150 while Wallace High School has been awarded £80,666.
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford welcomed the news but Tory rivals accused him of spin.
Stirling Council is among nine local authorities to receive cash from the £50 million Scottish Attainment Challenge Fund .
Bruce Crawford, SNP MSP for Stirling, said the latest awards brought the amount disbursed this year from the fund to £170 million. Stirling area schools have also this year received directly £1.4 million from the Scottish Government Pupil Equity Fund.
Mr Crawford said:“This investment will help us narrow the povertyrelated attainment gap across Stirling communities.
“We now have hundreds more teachers in classrooms the length and breadth of Scotland as a direct result of the Attainment Scotland Fund - and the SNP Government’s £170 million investment this year will help us raise the bar higher still.”
Stirling Council Conservative Group education spokesperson Bryan Flanagan said:“I am pleased for the two schools and we all want to see every pupil reach their potential but I am appalled at the way Mr Crawford attempts to spin as great news one per cent of the money to only two Stirling schools out of 47. The SNP are responsible for a dramatic decline in the Scottish education system and Stirling’s MSP is celebrating‘raising the bar higher still’.
“Talk about living in cloud cuckoo land, a location he shares with all those extra teachers he talks about.”