Published Date:
10 August 2008
By Christopher Claire
LABOUR leadership candidate Iain Gray yesterday pledged that bringing cash help for Scottish students in line with their counterparts in England would be a priority if he was elected.
Gray is competing against former health minister Andy Kerr and ex-justice minister Cathy Jamieson to succeed Wendy Alexander as Labour's Holyrood leader.
He said students in Scotland who are eligible for full financial support received a total of £4,510 a year.
But he said students in England in the same situation could get £6,200 a year.
The former enterprise minister added there were 35,000 students in Scotland who receive full support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. And he claimed it would cost £18m a year to increase their loans to match support given to students in England.
Meanwhile, Cathy Jamieson called for an extra £15m to be spent on helping children in the first year of school.
She claimed the cash would deliver at least 500 qualified early years workers for primary one classes.
-
Last Updated:
09 August 2008 11:56 PM
-
Source:
Scotland On Sunday
-
Location:
Scotland
-
Related Topics:
Scottish Labour Party