Kids Struggling To Read And Write

It's claimed thousands of children are caught up in a cycle of poverty with little chance of escape.

Dunfermline MSP Cara Hilton has hit out claiming too many kids are still in poverty despite eight rules of SNP rule at Holyrood.

A Save the Children report has revealed that youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds are twice as likely to have difficulties reading and writing.

Scottish Labour Children and Young People Spokesperson Ms Hilton said: “Primary 7 children leaving school this month have spent all their school years with the SNP in charge.  The SNP have had eight years to get it right for every child yet in report after report, all the evidence suggests they are failing to deliver for the children who need the most support and the gap continues to grow. 

“The Ready to Read report reflects the devastating impact child poverty can have on a child's life chances and the inequality at the heart of our education system. Being able to read well is vital for a child's prospects at school and in life. Yet one in five children growing up in poverty in Scotland leave primary school unable to read well. 

“Education should be a route out of poverty but right now many thousands of children in our communities across Scotland continue to be caught up in a cycle of disadvantage from which there is little prospect of escape. 

“We must ensure that free early education is focused more on the needs of children and on developing early literacy.  All the evidence suggests that child-centred early years learning can be a highly effective way of improving social mobility and we need to do more to ensure that all working in the sector have better access to training in early literacy skills so that when nursery children start school they really are ready to read.

“Scottish Labour welcome the Ready to Read report and urges the SNP Government to fully consider all its recommendations and take action to tackle the literacy and numeracy divide in our nation.” 

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We welcome this report and agree that improving literacy and raising attainment, particularly for the poorest children, are key priorities for this Government. That’s why just last week we announced £2.7 million funding for pre-school literacy programmes.
 
“Curriculum for Excellence is setting higher standards than ever before in literacy and numeracy and results from the forthcoming Growing Up in Scotland study* show vocabulary in three year olds is getting better, but we will not rest until we see clear evidence that we have closed the attainment gap for every child. To do this we are bringing forward a clear programme of work focusing on early intervention and improving attainment. This includes the £100m Scottish Attainment Fund to boost literacy and numeracy in our most deprived areas, a new National Improvement Framework, Attainment Advisers for every local authority and the Raising Attainment for All programme with over 50 literacy-based school projects.
 
“We know that a skilled workforce is key to supporting young children’s learning, that’s why we commissioned a report to look at skills and qualifications and are already investing £1 million this financial year to support the development of the early learning and childcare workforce.”