Region short changed by attainment fund say Labour MSP
Written by author on August 24, 2015
THE SNP Scottish Government is being blamed for neglecting Dumfries and Galloway as far as the Attainment Scotland Fund is concerned.
Dumfriesshire MSP Elaine Murray and chairman of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Education Committee, Councillor Jeff Leaver have expressed their disappointment that the region will see little benefit from the Attainment Scotland Fund.
The Fund is designed to improve literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing for primary school pupils, however only one school in Dumfries & Galloway, Kelloholm Primary, is to receive any funding compared with over 300 schools in the rest of Scotland.
Dumfriesshire MSP Elaine Murray said: “It’s disappointing to see that the Scottish Government aren’t as interested in tackling the attainment gap in Dumfries & Galloway as with the rest of Scotland. While this funding announcement will be welcome news for Kelloholm Primary, schools across the region are sitting wondering why they’ve been neglected.
“The Scottish Government had a real opportunity to invest in the lives of young people here in Dumfries & Galloway, but once again we’re being left with the crumbs off the table.”
Councillor Jeff Leaver added: “This was a real missed opportunity for pupils, parents and teachers in Dumfries & Galloway. The attainment gap is a major problem in the whole of Scotland, with pupils from a wealthier background still far more likely to do well academically than those from more deprived areas.
“In this day and age, that just isn’t acceptable. But the Scottish Government have failed to realise that this is a problem in every part of Scotland, and they’ve shown here with the lack of any real action that Dumfries & Galloway is at the back of their minds.”
