LABOUR has challenged city council chiefs over school closure plans after latest figures showed primary class sizes are still above the Scottish average.
A new list of city schools which are likely to face closure is expected to be presented to a cross-party group on Friday.
But Andrew Burns, Labour's council education spokesman, said closing schools flew in the face of the Scottish Government's ai
m of cutting class sizes.
And he argued there was a risk the authority would close schools only to later find it needed the space to create smaller classes.
Figures published yesterday showed average primary classes in Edinburgh had 24.2 pupils, compared with 23.3 across Scotland.
Cllr Burns said: "The Scottish Government has an aspiration to get P1-3 class sizes down to 18 from the current 25-30. And that will have an impact on the capacity levels in Edinburgh schools.
"It comes down to common sense. We have a government that wants to reduce class sizes and we need to take that into account."
But education convener Marilyne MacLaren rejected Cllr Burns' argument.
She said: "We receive funding from the Scottish Government based on pupil numbers, which in turn relates to the number of teachers required in schools."
The full article contains 212 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
