EXCLUSION FIGURES STILL TOO HIGH- FINNIE

Written by Ross Finnie on Thu 28th Jan 2010

Commenting on statistics detailing the number of children excluded from North Ayrshire Schools last year, West of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Ross Finnie said:

"It is welcome that exclusions have gone down, but we all agree the figures are still too high.

"There is a worrying correlation between deprivation and exclusion.

"One in ten children from the most deprived 20% of society were excluded from schools in 2008/09.

"This is unacceptable. Education resources must be targeted to the most deprived areas, especially in some of the worst off areas of North Ayrshire.

"There needs to be a range of measures to help head teachers find ways to keep children in school, but reduce the disruption caused to their classmates."

Ends

Notes to Editors

Full Copy of the report with regional figures included can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/26133748/0