Minister Says Too Many Children Failed By System

A government minister has claimed the care system fails too many children. Adam Ingram said said more must be done to improve schooling for children in care.

The Children and Early Years Minister was commenting on Children Looked After Statistics 2006-07 published today showed that in 2007 14,060 children were looked after by local authorities, an increase of 8% since 2006.

advertisementUp to 52% of care leavers had at least one pass at Standard Grade foundation level or better, an increase of 1% since 2005-06. The number with both English and maths at this level remained unchanged at 34%.

Mr Ingram said: “There’s nothing inevitable about young people who are looked after coming behind their peers in terms of qualifications and the statistics out today are disappointing.

“People and their potential lie at the heart of our vision for Scotland and children in care deserve every opportunity to play a full role.”