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Wednesday 16 December 2009
Immediate release
LABOUR: EDUCATION U-TURN “AN UTTER SHAMBLESâ€
Dumfries and Galloway Labour politicians have slammed the SNP Scottish Government for the shambles left in the wake of their u-turn on key education manifesto commitments last week.
Labour’s Education Spokesman Jeff Leaver said: “It’s an utter shambles. No one seems to know what the changes mean for individual councils, which leaves everything up in the air.
“Dumfries and Galloway Council is in the middle of trying to set a budget and yet we don’t know what the revised commitments on class sizes and free school meals will cost. The letter from COSLA states that rather than all P1-P3 pupils in classes of fewer than 18, the national commitment is now for 20% of these children. Does that mean Dumfries and Galloway, already at 18.1%, only has another 1.9% to reach the magic figure? Or will we need to go higher to pick up the slack from elsewhere that is still in single figures? These are vital questions but no one seems to know the answers.
“It’s been a u-turn designed on the back of a fag packet in an attempt by the new Education Secretary Michael Russell to distance himself from the broken promises that have littered the SNP’s first two years in government.â€
Dumfries MSP Elaine Murray added: “This emergency announcement by Michael Russell was obviously done in a rush as the detail simply hasn’t been thought through.
“They’re trying to produce a postcode lottery with free school meals, as each council will be required to give a nutritious free meal to 20% of children from the most deprived parts of that council. It takes no account of the differing affluence of local authorities and so we’re going to see better off children in one part of Scotland receive a free meal while less well off children elsewhere in the country have to pay.
“The whole thing is a mess. Michael Russell’s first action as Education Secretary was to dismantle SNP election promises and leave councils picking up the pieces.â€
ENDS
CONTACT - ANDREW MACKENZIE 07769206856
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LABOUR: EDUCATION U-TURN “AN UTTER SHAMBLES”
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