School buildings in rural Scotland are more than twice as likely to be in a “poor” or “bad” condition than those in urban areas, according to government figures.
A Scottish Conservative analysis of the School Estates Statistics 2023 reveals that 13.2 per cent of primary, secondary and special schools in rural councils had buildings in a “poor” or “bad” condition, compared with just 5.2 per cent of those in urban councils.
Conservative education spokesperson Liam Kerr said the figures were symptomatic of a trend of more rural parts of Scotland being forgotten by the government.
“After years of brutal SNP government cuts, all councils are struggling to meet costs. Yet again, rural areas are being disproportionately short-changed,” said Mr Kerr.
“Rural students and schools deserve the same attention, resources and funding from the SNP as those in urban areas.”
Funding needed for school buildings
Much of the money for upgrading school buildings comes from local councils, which have found their funding from the government squeezed in recent years. In the wake of the Scottish budget on 19 December local authority umbrella organisation Cosla said it was facing a funding shortfall of £99.5 million in capital and £95 million in revenue.
Cosla also said the government had failed to adequately fund its council tax freeze, falling £156 million short.
In rural areas, maintaining school buildings can be more difficult given that they tend to have a greater number of schools per head than built-up areas, as a result of more scattered populations.
The Scottish government announced on 30 October that 10 local authorities would benefit from the next phase of the Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) - a joint programme with Cosla - to build new state-of-the-art facilities.
Announcing the latest round of funding, education secretary Jenny Gilruth said the proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition had increased from 61 per cent in April 2007 to 90.7 per cent in April 2023.
The latest phase of LEIP projects is expected to be completed by 2027.
However, Mr Kerr has criticised the government for failing to fund any projects in Highland in the latest LEIP phase.
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition in Scotland has increased from 61 per cent in April 2007 to 90.7 per cent in April 2023 as a result of Scottish government investment and the next phase of LEIP will build on this progress.
The spokesperson added: “Pupil-teacher ratios across the country remain at near record levels. Scotland also has the most teachers per pupil and the highest-paid teachers in the UK - showing how much the Scottish government values the profession.
“The 2024-25 Budget further supports teachers with an investment of £390m to protect teacher numbers and fund the teacher pay deal.”
