Dundee has been named as one of the first councils to receive a share of £20 million to help pupils in disadvantaged areas.
Education Secretary Angela Constance announced that Dundee, Glasgow, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire, North Ayrshire, Clackmannanshire and North Lanarkshire are the first beneficiaries of a £100 million Attainment Scotland Fund.
The fund will release £20 million in the first year although Scottish Government has not yet revealed how much Dundee will get.
Ms Constance said the funding is targeting local authorities with the highest concentration of pupils living in deprived areas.
She said: “Many of these authorities are already doing well but we are confident that with further support they can do more.
“The fund will be directed specifically to improve literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing in primary schools again, if we can close the attainment gap when children are young, the benefits will continue into secondary school and beyond.”
She also announced annual funding of £0.5 million which will support a National Mentoring Scheme to improve the lives of looked after children across Scotland.
Ms Constance said: “Looked after children face particular disadvantages and can have the poorest educational outcomes of all. Mentoring can make a significant difference to their lives.
Commenting on the announcement education convener for Dundee City Council, Stewart Hunter said: “We are delighted with this announcement as this was money we didn’t expect.
“While it is great to get this money the down side is we do have deprivation in this city and that’s something we do have to tackle. I think we have made significant improvements in these areas over the last five or six years but we want to build on that.”
He said the council plans to sit down with head teachers over the next few weeks to see where the money could be best spent.