Scots move to cut class sizes for young children

Class sizes in Scotland will be cut to 18 for four to seven-year-olds with an extra 550 new teachers and teacher trainees at a cost of £25 million this year, the Scottish education secretary announced June 20. During the next school year, 300 fully qualified teachers who do not yet have full-time posts for next term will be employed in pre-schools and primaries. An extra 250 teachers will also start training this year to go into schools from August 2008. Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish education secretary, said: "I am serious about cutting class sizes. A key policy of this government is to cut class sizes to 18 for four to seven-year-olds." Read the article at Guardian Unlimited.