FIFE COUNCIL say they are continuing to improve their school estate after national figures on the condition of buildings were published.

The School Estates Statistics for 2019 revealed that most West Fife primaries are currently in 'B' condition and deemed satisfactory and performing adequately but showing minor deterioration.

Torryburn Primary is the only one in class C condition – defined as being poor and showing major defects and/or not operating adequately – while a handful were said to be in the top, A-rated condition.

Inverkeithing, St Columba's and Woodmill are class C condition while Queen Anne and Dunfermline high schools were both A-rated and said to be performing well and operating efficiently.

The report showed that the proportion of schools reported as being in good or satisfactory condition across Scotland has increased to 88.3 per cent from 86.6 per cent last year.

The proportion of pupils educated in schools in “poor” or “bad” condition has fallen from 36.6 per cent of all pupils – around 257,000 – in 2007 to 10.3 per cent of all pupils – around 71,000 – in 2019.

Fife Council's education and children's services committee convener, Councillor Fay Sinclair, said they had continued to work on their school buildings.

"In the last five years, the council has built three new state-of-the-art secondary schools and we are continuously working to maintain and improve all schools across Fife," she said. "However, we have to work within increasingly challenging financial constraints and while it would be fantastic to do everything that needs to be done, we have to prioritise.

"Our aspiration is to have all our schools graded as A or B for both condition and suitability, and our sustainable estate programme is helping us work towards this over the longer term.

“Our revised Capital Plan allocates £117 million to the strategy for secondary provision in the Dunfermline and South and West Fife areas, including replacement of Inverkeithing, Woodmill and St Columba’s RC high schools, and also prioritises options for the Glenrothes area.

"We have been undertaking engagement sessions with parents/carers and our wider school communities in West Fife already to discuss how we might deliver on these plans. The Scottish Government funding announcement last week could help us to move forward. This award for Fife was the first in Scotland from its new infrastructure funding programme.

“Additionally, a number of new primary schools are planned across Fife as part of strategic housing developments.

“Of course, the safety of our children is always our highest priority. Any issues identified through the inspections we carry out, which could compromise safety in any way, are prioritised and dealt with immediately.”