A WEST FIFE MSP wants to see a new Inverkeithing High School, saying the current building is “past its sell-by date”.

Cowdenbeath MSP Alex Rowley highlighted the “dire state” of the school last week in a debate at Holyrood focusing on raising attainment in Scotland's schools.

He was “disappointed” Inverkeithing High was not included in a list of replacement schools brought forward by the Scottish Government and asked Education Secretary Angela Constance to visit the school.

Speaking after the debate Mr Rowley said: “I am well aware of the excellent work by students and teachers at Inverkeithing High School but I wanted to make the point that this is made all the more difficult when you are teaching and learning in a school building that is past its sell-by date.”

Mr Rowley said Fife Council had used its capital allocation to replace schools across Fife in order of condition but must now use its voice to make the case for additional funding.

He continued: “I spoke again to the minster after the debate and she has agreed to visit the school to see the excellent work that goes on as well as the unacceptable condition of the building.

“I have also raised the condition of the school with Fife Council, making the point that they must now bring forward detailed plans for its replacement so that we can collectively push for the funding to make those plans happen.

“We need to make sure that when the next announcement is being made about investment in new schools, a replacement for Inverkeithing High School is in that announcement.”

Fife Council education spokesperson Councillor Bryan Poole said the local authority had been able to build new schools working in partnership with the Scottish Government, with both sharing costs.

He added: “But as Mr Rowley hints, we still have schools in Fife – Inverkeithing High School being but one of them – that require either a complete replacement and/or significant investment to bring them up to the same standard as our newest schools.

“As we have done in the past, we will continue to work with the Scottish Government to improve our school estate for the benefit of Fife's children and, with this in mind, the leader of Fife Council only last week wrote to the Education Minister on matters relating to Fife's school estate.

“I would want to emphasise though that setting aside the school estate challenges, our staff at Inverkeithing High and throughout Fife – teachers, headteachers, support staff – continue to provide the very best learning experiences they can for our young people and we can see via our success in raising the literacy and numeracy standards of our children, against the national trend, alongside the upward trend of raising attainment, that the efforts of our staff are paying of.”