Government agrees to pay for upgrade of schools
half the cost of revamping eight ageing north and north-east primaries to be met
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Half the cost of upgrading eight primary schools in the north and north-east could come from the Scottish Government, Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop announced yesterday.
She said ageing and neglected facilities would be brought up to 21st-century standards under the Scottish Government’s £1.25billion school-building programme.
Improvements will be made to Bucksburn and Newhills primaries near Aberdeen, Kinloss in Moray, Evie on Orkney and Invergowrie in Perthshire.
Daliburgh School on South Uist, Happyhansel Primary at Walls, Shetland, and Riverside Primary at Stirling will also be upgraded.
Aberdeen, Moray, Shetland, Orkney, Western Isles, Perth and Kinross and Stirling councils, which are expected to fund 50% of the building costs, all warmly welcomed the news.
A total of 20 primary schools and one special school will be upgraded under the scheme, which will benefit 6,000 pupils.
Labour education spokes-man Des McNulty said the number of projects announced was “embarrassingly small”, given official government figures showing that 566 schools in Scotland had been assessed as being in poor or bad condition.
Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Margaret Smith agreed the announcement did not go far enough to address problems in old school buildings.
North East Conservative MSP Nanette Milne and Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Peter Peacock said they were both “hugely disappointed” that no money has been allocated to upgrade primary schools in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.
Mrs Milne said 16 primary schools in Aberdeenshire were classified as being in poor condition.
The government, which has pledged to build 55 schools under the scheme, announced in September that 14 secondary schools across Scotland would either be replaced or refurbished.
Ms Hyslop said further school upgrade announcements would be made in the near future and hit back at critics.
“This government inherited a legacy of 260,000 pupils in poor or bad-condition school buildings and, in just two-and-a-half years, that number has dropped by over 100,000.”
Aberdeen City Council chief executive Sue Bruce said: “We have received an agreement in principle to offer 50% funding of the cost of construction of a new school to replace Bucksburn and Newhills primary schools.
“This is great news and should allow us to build upon the success of the 3Rs building project.”
Morag Munro, chairwoman of Western Isles Council’s education and children’s services committee, said the authority would shortly be discussing how to make best use of the money to improve facilities at Daliburgh Primary, which will cost £6million.
Shetland Council policy manager Peter Peterson said the authority planned to build an extension at Happyhansel School and a feasibility study would be carried out shortly.
Janice Annal, chairwoman of Orkney Islands Council’s education and recreation services committee, said it was too early to say if Evie Primary School would be rebuilt of refurbished.
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