A SOLUTION could be found for West Fife’s school crisis as the Scottish Government announced yesterday (Wednesday) it will invest a further £1 billion in rebuilding and refurbishing education facilities.

Fife Council will have the opportunity to bid for the new funding, which will kick in from 2021, when the current school-building programme ends.

It is expected that all four high schools in Dunfermline will exceed capacity in the early 2020s.

Dunfermline MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “I am delighted to welcome this funding announcement from the Scottish Government today. I look forward to seeing a strong, positive bid from Fife Council.

“This represents a huge opportunity for school pupils in Dunfermline, with the potential for an innovative and unique approach for young people on their journey through education.

“The chance for a much-needed upgrade of Woodmill High School and St Columba’s will be welcome news to parents, pupils and teachers alike.

“The ‘learning campus’ project could serve as a role model for an inclusive and joined-up approach to learning, giving young people from Dunfermline an exciting, state-of-the-art educational opportunity.”

The Government say the new funding will benefit around 50,000 pupils.

Decisions on which schools will benefit will be focused on those in the poorest condition in partnership with COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) and councils.

Plans to replace five high schools in Fife and increase capacity at another three would cost at least £226 million – and Fife Council don’t have the cash.

The only confirmed funding they have is £50m of their own money.

The council has prioritised the replacement of secondary schools in poor condition with Inverkeithing, St Columba’s and Woodmill, as well as Glenrothes and Glenwood, all rated C.

That comes to an estimated £203m.

And, due to a looming capacity crisis and the building of 25,000 new homes in Fife over the next decade – with 10,000 for Dunfermline and West Fife – they aim to ‘fill up’ high schools with spare capacity.

Work to enable Queen Anne, Dunfermline and Auchmuty to cope with an extra 650 pupils would add £23m to the bill, and the £226m total doesn’t include site purchase or decanting costs, inflation, technical, legal or financial advice.

Councillor Fay Sinclair, convener of Fife Council’s education and children’s services committee, said: “This is very welcome news. I believe Fife is well-placed to attract a share of this funding.

“We’ve set out our long-term vision for secondary education across the Dunfermline, Glenrothes and South West Fife areas. Included within our capital programme is the possibility of an exciting project in Dunfermline which would see new-builds for Woodmill and St Columba’s high schools as well as Fife College.

“We already have a great track record of working with the Scottish Government to provide first-class schools. If successful, this offers us the opportunity to work in partnership with them again to continue delivering high-quality, inclusive and welcoming buildings our young people, families and communities can be proud of.”