Class sizes: On the up

Scottish Labour is under fire following confirmation that class sizes are on the rise north of the border.

Data released by the Scottish Executive confirms that the average size of a primary class has increased from 23.7 in 2003 to 23.9 last September.

Opposition parties and unions slammed Labour's failure to honour its pledge to reduce class sizes.

"We are now getting to the stage where we would be expecting the Executive to be delivering, and yet we are seeing the trend getting worse," said the Educational Institute of Scotland.

"The Executive should now be on alert that its categoric promises are still some way from being delivered."

The SNP slammed the data in light of the fact that it comes at the same time as school intakes are falling.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives seized on new figures that revealed the number of pupils in special schools has fallen nearly 10 per cent since 1997.

"While many pupils with special needs can benefit from education in mainstream classrooms, some young people with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties need to have them met differently," said education spokesman James Douglas Hamilton.

"A child's educational placement must not be down to the fact that there is only one option available to them.

"Scottish Conservatives would give parents the choice, after receiving the best advice, as to whether to send their children to special schools or mainstream schools because the funds would follow the pupils."