The Scottish Government has announced further funding to close the Attainment Gap and support pupils to go on to positive destinations.
Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) totalling £520 million will be distributed to schools in every council area to help headteachers put in place more support for children and young people.
Schools across Edinburgh are benefitting from £7.2m of funding for the coming year to reduce the attainment gap in the area.
The funding has been confirmed for multiple years to provide more certainty for headteachers and allow for longer-term planning.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:
Tackling the poverty-related attainment gap and giving every young person the chance to fulfil their full potential remains our priority, and we are investing an increased £1 billion through schools and local authorities over the course of this Parliament to support this ambition.
Our headteachers and teachers know their pupils best and have told us that our measures are working. We are determined to ensure they are empowered to take the approaches that are right for the children and young people in their schools to help improve attainment.
Our allocation of more than £520 million of PEF for the next four years will give headteachers the confidence and security they need to plan long term. However, we know schools can’t do this alone, and headteachers should work in partnership with each other, Education Scotland and their local authority, to agree the use of the funding.
Local MSP Gordon MacDonald said:
Since the SNP formed a government in 2007, attainment and the number of pupils going on to positive destinations has improved across Edinburgh.
This is down to the funding the SNP Scottish Government has provided to reduce the attainment gap and I am delighted that this will continue as £7.2m has been committed to reduce the gap even further for the coming year.
The SNP Scottish Government is also ensuring that P1-3 children have the best start to their day by providing free school meals. This will also be extended to all primary schools within this parliamentary term.
