Tackling the attainment gap between Dundee’s richest and poorest school children is to be a priority, according to the city council’s education chief.
Councillor Stewart Hunter’s comments came as a report revealed there is still a large gap in the achievements of the most and least well-off.
But the Scottish Government report also revealed that, overall, attainment levels are on the up.
Acknowledging the gap between the poorest pupils and those from well-off families, Mr Hunter said: “Unfortunately in Dundee too many areas are classed as some of the most deprived in Scotland.
“There is a real challenge here and it isn’t just an education one it’s city wide and about tackling attitudes, for instance, of parents who perhaps had a particularly bad experience of school.
“In those situations we need to work with the parents to ensure that school is a place they want their kids to be. This is something we will be working hard on.”
Statistics released by Insight, the Scottish Government’s benchmarking tool, showed more pupils are leaving school with improved numeracy and literacy skills.
On Monday, the education committee will hear that 78.9% of pupils achieved SCQF Level 4 in numeracy and literacy, compared with 73.7% the previous year.
But Dundee falls short when trends are compared with the achievements of a comparator another council with similar issues.
Plans in place to improve attainment levels even further include increasing support for children in the poorest areas.