FUNDING of over £11 million has been given to seven councils as the first allocations from the Scottish Government’s £100 million Attainment Scotland Fund – including Clackmannanshire.

Education secretary Angela Constance visited the Wee County on Thursday (2 July) as these were confirmed.

Glasgow, Dundee, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire and North Lanarkshire were announced as the first local authorities to benefit – following the establishment of the fund in February this year – and the funding is targeting areas with the highest concentration of primary aged pupils living in deprived areas.

Speaking during a visit to a school holiday club at Lornshill Academy, Ms Constance said: “We know school education in Scotland is getting better. Official figures published last month showed the percentage of young people leaving school to go into work, education or training is at a record high, with the vast majority of pupils reaching SCQF level 3 literacy and numeracy or above.

“Our new Scottish Attainment Challenge will play a key role in delivering further improvements, from Glasgow, Scotland’s largest local authority, to here in Clackmannanshire, the ‘wee’ county.

“Good things are happening in all seven of these local authorities, and more widely across Scotland, but our fund will intensify efforts to drive improvement where it is needed, with a sharper focus on earlier intervention to close the attainment gap.

“Through measures such as this fund, the provisions in our Education (Scotland) Bill and the development of a National Improvement Framework, we will do all we can to raise attainment and give our young people the best start possible.” As an example, in Clackmannanshire, investment will be targeted in ‘change areas’ which will have heavy emphasis on literacy and numeracy, leadership in schools and engagement with parents and carers.

These locally-agreed plans set out what schools in the most deprived communities will do to support children so they get the same chance to succeed at school and in life as their peers from better off backgrounds.

Each council is expected to invest in activity that will help close the attainment gap and report regularly to the Scottish Government on what works.

Education convener at Clackmannanshire Council, Councillor Ellen Forson, said she was delighted to welcome Ms Constance to the county, to hear about the work that is already under way to raise attainment in local schools.

She added: “I am pleased that Clackmannanshire is one of the first local authorities to benefit from The Scottish Attainment Challenge funding from the Scottish Government.

“The £718,109 funding that the cabinet secretary announced will help us to build on the work already under way and enable us to deliver an ambitious improvement plan.

“During the first year of the programme, we will be focusing on improving literacy and numeracy learning for all children, providing high quality training for teachers, extending parenting programmes and enhancing after school activities in health, well-being, physical activity and sport.

“I am confident that this extra support and focus will help us to ensure that we support our young people to help them make the best of their talents, and to be ready for the challenges which face them in the future.” Local MSP Keith Brown added: “The SNP has a strong track record on education, but more always needs to be done to ensure that children in some of our most deprived communities are able to fulfil their full potential.

“That’s why this new Scottish Government investment is so welcome – ensuring local authorities across Scotland are equipped with additional support to close the attainment gap and ensure that no child in Scotland is left behind simply because of their economic background.

“A top-class education is one of the key tools to ensure that children in Clackmannanshire are able to meet their potential – and this new investment from the SNP in government will go some way to ensuring that we close the attainment gap and allow all local children to get the best possible start in life.”