Almost £5 million is to be spent in Dundee schools in an effort to close the poverty related attainment gap.
The Pupil Equity Funding scheme will be allocated from the Scottish Government to Dundee City Council as part of the 2017/18 budget settlement.
Councillors will meet on Monday to discuss a review of the devolved school management scheme (DSM), at which they will hear about the allocation of funds for the city’s schools and the implications the DSM will have in areas such as staff recruitment, procurement, fiscal reporting and accountability.
Money from the Pupil Equity Funding scheme will be used in addition to £4.5 million awarded from the government for the Scottish Attainment Challenge.
Exact levels of funding for each school has yet to be revealed, and a range of support measures will be put in place to help schools use their allocated money in the most effective manner possible.
Due to a lack of precedent for this particular allocation of funding, the children and families service is keen to review the existing DSM scheme already in place, to keep the Public Equity Funding and DSM separate.
Children and families service convener Councillor Stewart Hunter said: “Pupil Equity Funding is a welcome additional resource for Dundee schools and will help us in our ongoing efforts to help close the attainment gap across the city.
“The allocation of this funding directly to head teachers will have implications on our devolved school management scheme and I think it is sensible to look at this and make any necessary adjustments.
“This review will look at areas like recruitment and also, procurement, scrutiny of expenditure and work with the third sector.
“I am keen that we can make sure that the pupil equity fund can have the maximum impact on those at whom it is aimed — the young people themselves.”
The money will be allocated directly to headteachers, and will work out at £1,200 per eligible pupil from P1 to S3, estimated using data from the Healthy Living Survey and pupil census.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “Pupil Equity Funding, which forms part of the £750 million Scottish Attainment Challenge Programme, is additional funding allocated directly to schools and targeted at closing the poverty related attainment gap. How it is spent will be at the discretion of the school.
“This funding must be used to deliver activities and interventions that support children and young people affected by poverty to achieve their full potential to help close the attainment gap. Any activity must be clearly additional to core activity and grounded in evidence of what is known to be effective at raising attainment for this group.
“We will provide a range of support to assist schools to plan for the use of this funding, including online resources and a series of headteacher events to be held next month.”
