LABOUR ABANDON FAMILIES WITH CRAZY EDUCATION PLANS

For immediate use: Monday 7th February 2011




Attn: NEWSDESKS


POLITICAL / EDUCATION CORRESPONDENTS



FROM CUTTING ONE DAY A WEEK TO ONE YEAR OF EDUCATION



The SNP today challenged Labour on its plans for families and education after Labour proposals moved from the ridiculous idea of a four day school week to the illegal proposal not to start children’s education to the age of six - a year later than is currently the case.



A Labour council leader confirmed on BBC Radio Scotland this morning that proposals have been drawn up to push the school age up to six years old. There has been an outcry from parents who would need to either take time off work or pay for additional childcare services if schools ran for only 4 days, while pushing the starting age up to 6 is illegal, would require a

complete revamp of the curriculum and this year would affect 1,500 pupils in North Ayrshire. There are currently 18,000 school pupils in North Ayrshire and 53,500 pupils currently in Primary one across Scotland.



MSP Kenneth Gibson who represents North Ayrshire and is Deputy Convener of the Scottish Parliament's Education Committee said:




"Cutting the school week to four days was crazy enough pushing the school age up to six is just as bad.


“Labour have gone from cutting one day a week off a child’s education to cutting the whole year.


“Labour’s education policy has gone from the daft to the illegal.


"These proposals could disrupt the education of 1500 primary one children and 18,000 pupils across the area.


“North Ayrshire’s plans have given all of Scotland a glimpse of what education would be like under Labour and how hard it would become for families. This isn't about budgets it's about damaging our children's education.



“A four day week would be bad for our children’s education and see thousands of families pushed into difficult decisions over giving up work, finding childcare and seeing their children lose a whole day’s schooling. Losing a whole year would be disastrous.


“This weekend's news that the Labour Party is looking at the introduction of a 4 day week in our primary schools and now at delaying school education by a year has set alarm bells ringing across Scotland. I have been overwhelmed by calls and emails from worried and distressed parents who know that if Labour go ahead with this plan they will face real upheaval and serious financial problems. The SNP will not let this happen and if we have to use the law to stop it we will.”