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Children from cash-strapped Scottish families 'lag behind' richer peers even before starting school

New research shows Scottish children from poorer families lag behind their richer peers before they even reach school and the gap just gets wider in the classroom

Scottish children from poorer families are lagging behind their richer peers before they even reach school and the gap just gets wider in the classroom, new research showed yesterday.

Children from richer backgrounds “significantly outperform” those from more deprived backgrounds between the ages of three and five, according to researchers from Strathclyde University.

The study, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), called for fresh thinking on underachieving in Scotland’s education system in light of the findings.

By early secondary school, 28 per cent of deprived children are performing well in numeracy, compared to 56 per cent of those from better-off backgrounds.

The report’s authors said the “attainment gap” widened still further after leaving school — poorer children were three times as likely to be unemployed as young adults and twice as likely to work only part-time hours.

Meanwhile paying work would likely earn them only half what it would for those brought up in wealthy homes.

And official figures yesterday showed that 30 per cent of children in Scotland live in households which do not own property, have an occupational pension or significant savings, or own items such as cars or household goods — all signs they would struggle in school.

JRF Scotland adviser Jim McCormick said such poverty affected not only individual aspirations, but Scotland’s economy as a whole.

“Closing the attainment gap must be a higher priority for everyone concerned with education in Scotland,” he said.

Labour education spokeswoman Kezia Dugdale accused the SNP government of failing to narrow the gap.

She said: “The best way of bringing about social justice is ensuring that enjoying education and aspiration are part of every family and community’s goals.

“That will deliver a more fair and equal society — not a constitutional change. That is what the SNP fails to understand.”

But Holyrood Education Secretary Michael Russell responded: “We wholeheartedly agree with JRF’s report that there is still work to be done, but only with the full powers of independence will we truly be able to do everything we can to reduce poverty and close the attainment gap.”

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