THE Scottish Liberal Democrats leader has backed the Press’ Action for Schools campaign and called on the Scottish Government to stop cutting money for education. 


Willie Rennie met local candidates in Dunfermline on Sunday and said the paper was right to highlight the issue. 


He said: “With an enormous number of homes being built in West Fife over the next 20 years, pressure is building in our education system. The Action for Schools campaign shows the urgency and strength of feeling among parents.


“Since 2011 the SNP have cut the money available to schools while 150,000 children are being taught in larger class sizes. This is bad for pupils and bad for teachers, no wonder we’ve fallen in the international education rankings.”


The Action for Schools campaign highlighted the pressure that housebuilding is piling on a creaking education system. There are already capacity risks at primary and secondary schools in Dunfermline with 12,000 more houses to be built in the next 20 years. 


Dunfermline councillor Fay Sinclair, SNP’s education spokesperson, said: “The SNP is the only party which has been consistent on the need for action on schools.


“After two years of sustained pressure on the issue, I was pleased to support the inclusion of £50m in Fife’s capital plan for new high school buildings. 


“I’ve also regularly highlighted a need to reassess the formula for the number of school places required for new housing developments, as the strain on capacity in Duloch in particular has shown this is not adequate.


“As we strive towards equity in education for all pupils, with extra investment from the Scottish Government’s Scottish Attainment Challenge and £10m Pupil Equity Fund for Fife, it is deeply distressing to see Labour pushing ahead with their £3m teaching budget cut.”


Dunfermline Labour councillor Helen Law said: “Action for Schools has been a great campaign to shine a light on local schools. The two new schools, Dunfermline and Queen Anne, are great examples of innovative new design concepts and provide excellent facilities in which to learn.


“It is therefore imperative that pupils at Woodmill,  Inverkeithing and St Columba’s are given the same opportunities. I am delighted that the Labour administration have ensured that the 2017 budget confirmed Labour’s commitment to building those schools with £50m, the council’s contribution to the finances required. The campaign highlighted the need for new primary schools and as proposals come forward education planning must be at the heart of the process.


“The shortage of teachers  has been a problem right across  Scotland and Fife, like every other local authority has been finding it difficult to recruit. The failure of workforce planning by the SNP government  is now coming home to roost. It was interesting to see that John Swinney, as finance minister,  cut the budget for teacher training and then as Education Minister has had to put it back.”