This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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School building and refurbishment
29/01/2007
The Scottish government today marked the achievement of its promise to refurbish 200 schools in the country's largest ever school building programme.
Ministers, including First Minister Jack McConnell, were out and about to see for themselves the difference that the multi-billion pound investment is making for pupils and teachers.
During the visits they also learned how pupils are reaping the benefits of equipment such as interactive whiteboards and IT, as well as up-to-date sports and leisure facilities.
At Stirling High School, the First Minister said:
"It's a great pleasure to return to the school where I undertook my teaching practice. I taught in various schools throughout the 80s and I remember the effect that poor classrooms and poor facilities had on the motivation of pupils and teachers. It was difficult to inspire and be inspiring about teaching and learning when all around you were the signs of decay and a lack of investment.
"But it is changed days now and our ambition is for every school to be an excellent school with excellent facilities. A modern environment helps our teachers to teach and our pupils to learn.
"The largest school building programme in this country's history is one of the real achievements of devolution and our government remains absolutely committed to it.
"We will not stop here and another 100 schools will be built or refurbished over the next two years.
"We are overturning a legacy of decades of neglect, replacing sub-standard schools, repairing dilapidated buildings and renovating miserable classrooms."
Education Minister Hugh Henry added:
"Since devolution, alongside this huge programme of school building, we have been strengthening the foundations of Scottish education. Scotland is in the top third in the OECD countries, with our 15-year-olds among the best performing in the world. Attainment is improving, with most pupils working at or above the literacy and numeracy levels expected for their age. Over half of our school leavers enter further or higher education.
"In addition, we are well on our way to meeting our current class size reduction targets, with more teachers being employed at a time of falling school rolls. And we have provided a free nursery place for every three- and four-year-old child.
"We are determined to make Scottish education the best in the world."
COSLA President Pat Watters said:
"We recognise the Executive's commitment to reinvestment in the school estate. Education has always been a major priority for Scotland's councils.
"The money councils are committing is the largest investment in Scottish education since its inception and has been achieved through local authorities' partnership with the Executive. Councils are committed to taking this forward for a number of years to maintain the position of the Scottish education system as one of the best regarded worldwide."
The School Estate Strategy, Building our Future: Scotland's School Estate, is a joint Executive/COSLA policy launched in February 2003 that set out the vision and objectives to achieve a well built, well designed and well managed school estate over the long term.
Since 1997 there has been huge capital investment of over £4 billion in the school estate.
Forty PPP projects in all parts of Scotland represent a significant part of this investment, with a capital value of over £2.8 billion.
The Schools Fund, the Executive's annual capital grant to authorities for investment in school buildings, stands this year at over £150 million - a five-fold increase over five years.
In addition, local authorities currently spend around £125 million annually on schools from their capital programmes.
The Partnership Agreement commitment was to 'develop the largest ever school building programme in Scotland's history, renewing 200 more schools by 2006, rising to 300 by 2009'.
The 200 schools are a mix of new projects and refurbishments covering everything from full-scale replacement to significant new extensions.
To highlight different approaches to school design for councils and others involved in planning school building projects, an online resource of case studies will this week be launched on the Executive's website, covering nursery, primary, secondary and special schools from Shetland to South Lanarkshire.
Each of the first batch of 16 case studies highlights a different approach to school design issues. As well as including photographs and plans, some case studies feature the reaction of users - pupils and teachers - to their new building.