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Ministers to scrap schools scheme Ministers to scrap schools scheme
(about 3 hours later)
The Scottish Government is to scrap a £15m scheme designed to drive up standards in targeted schools. One of the flagship education policies of the last Scottish Government is set to be scrapped, it has emerged.
Ministers have said funds will be withdrawn in two years. Funding for the three-year schools of ambition programme, which aims to turn around the performance of targeted schools, is coming to an end.
The Schools of Ambition scheme was set up by the previous Labour/Lib Dem coalition as a way of turning around schools which were not performing well. The current Holyrood administration said the 52 schools currently in the scheme would still be funded.
The schools received £100,000 a year from the public purse and were expected to seek funds from private sources, such as wealthy philanthropists. The schools receive £100,000 a year from the public purse and are expected to seek funds from private sources.
The scheme was perceived by some as a watered-down version of the City Academy Scheme in England, which critics claimed was partly designed to weaken the strong control of local authorities over education. The scheme was perceived by some as a watered-down version of England's city academies.
The evidence shows that it was very effective in certain cases Ewan HunterHunter Foundation The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association said it was flawed because cash was only available to selected schools.
The Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) said the Schools of Ambition scheme was flawed because funds were only available to selected schools. 'Spread excellence'
However, the head of Sir Tom Hunter's foundation, said scrapping the scheme was short-sighted. The Scots philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter was one of the scheme's first backers when it was launched three years ago.
Ewan Hunter, chief executive of the Hunter Foundation, said the organisation had put in a "modest sum" of £600,000 and was tracking the impact in the six schools it helped fund. Ewan Hunter, chief executive of the Hunter Foundation, which put in £600,000 to fund six schools, said scrapping the programme was short-sighted.
He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The evidence shows that it was very effective in certain cases and our point is that if you find that exceptional evidence, spread it across the whole system, instead of closing the whole thing down. He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "The evidence shows that it was very effective in certain cases and our point is that if you find that exceptional evidence, spread it across the whole system instead of closing the whole thing down."
"This is short-sighted in the extreme and what we need to do is find the evidence and spread it across the whole system. The programme, originally aimed at involving 100 schools, included those which inspectors had given a poor evaluation, as well as those which had begun to improve their performance or were already performing well.
"As a fundamental, it's about time we started a discussion about taking politics out of education." The Scottish Government said it had invested a record amount of cash into schools of ambition - £11.5m, compared to £10.6 from the previous administration.
Failing schools An official spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond said: "The education secretary, Fiona Hyslop, is in full agreement with Ewan Hunter that we need to spread excellence across the whole school system, with lessons learned from the project put into practice across all schools so that all schools can be schools of ambition."
Mr Hunter said he was planning to meet Scottish Government officials this week.
The Schools of Ambition scheme was launched three years ago and Sir Tom Hunter was one of its first private backers.
It was originally aimed at involving 100 failing schools.
Schools given a poor evaluation in HIME reports were among those brought onto the scheme.
Other schools which had begun to improve their performance or were already performing well were also included.