TWO Dunfermline councillors have urged the Deputy First Minster to make funding for schools in Dunfermline a “top priority”. 

In an open letter to John Swinney, Labour’s Billy Pollock and Lib Dem Tony Martin said that Woodmill and St Columba’s high schools were in dire need of replacement. 

Inverkeithing High needs replaced too and Fife Council has allocated £50 million towards the total cost, estimated to be at least £150m, but need the Scottish Government to provide the other two-thirds of the cash. 

The letter, from the Dunfermline South councillors, echoes the Press Action for Schools campaign which calls for urgent action for our schools. 

The letter reads: “Woodmill and St Columba’s RC high schools would benefit significantly, in terms of sufficiency, condition and suitability, through replacement. 

“The condition of both schools is poor, and importantly, Woodmill will exceed its operational capacity by August 2018. 

“The council has made allocation of £50m in its capital programme towards the cost of new secondary schools, but must rely on additional funding for the Scottish Government in order order to be able to tackle the outstanding needs for renewal and replacement of those schools in most immediate need of attention.”

In our Action for Schools campaign, launched in January, the Press has highlighted that 12,000 new houses planned for West Fife in the next 20 years will pile pressure on an already creaking education system. 

Woodmill’s capacity risk is the immediate concern but its buildings, and those at St Columba’s and Inverkeithing, are in poor condition and need replaced. 

A new high school may also be needed to keep pace with the scale of housebuilding, with all four high schools in Dunfermline set to be full in just a few years. 

As well as a replacement Tulliallan Primary School, the work is likely to cost £150m – money Fife Council do not have. 

Councillors Pollock and Martin stated: “The school estate in Dunfermline needs replacement as a matter of urgency, please, for the needs of education we respectfully ask that you make Dunfermline your top priority and allocate the required additional funding as soon as possible. 

“As elected representatives of the community we would like a commitment, and importantly a time scale, as to when the required Scottish Government funding will be coming forward. 

“Without this remaining funding element, we believe this will have a detrimental impact on the learning of pupils at both schools.”

A spokesperson for Mr Swinney said: “Through our current £1.8 billion Schools for the Future programme, 112 schools will have been rebuilt or refurbished across Scotland by 2020.

“As part of the programme, Fife Council has been awarded over £57 million towards the construction of three secondary schools. 

“A total of 651 school building projects have been completed during the last nine years, since the SNP came to office.  

“By comparison, this is almost double the number of schools (328) completed over the preceding eight years when Labour and the Lib Dems were in office.

“We are currently developing proposals for further investment in school buildings.”

Fellow Dunfermline South councillor, the SNP’s Fay Sinclair, said: “This is an issue I have personally led on for the past two years and I’m delighted that this continued pressure has led to the inclusion of money towards school buildings in Fife Council’s capital plan. 

“We are now finally in a position to bid for Scottish Government funding as soon as it becomes available and I’ve had it confirmed that council officers are in discussions with the Scottish Futures Trust regarding these schools.

“It is disappointing, though hardly surprising, that a few weeks out from an election we have a politician taking a sudden interest in the need for new local schools and trying to politicise his late and limited intervention.”