Many children in care leave school without basic qualifications

The Scottish Executive is unhappy so many vulnerable youngsters are left with poor qualifications and prospects.

Inspectors are being called in as part of a crackdown on the way local authorities handle the welfare and education of children in care.

Local councils accept there is an issue with exam results in particular.

One in every 100 children in Scotland is in care and 30% of those leaving care aged 19 in 2006 did so without being in education, training or employment.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) said it recognised the need for a multi-agency approach.

Although the exam results of children in care have improved in recent years, half leave school with no Standard Grade of any kind, compared with one in 10 of pupils overall.

Most have no college placements, training or jobs lined up.

These particular children have great emotional needs which have to be addressed Councillor Eric Jackson

Now inspectors are to be called in to scrutinise how effectively councils, schools and care providers deal with this group.

On Monday, the executive is expected to reveal further measures to put pressure on councils.

Cosla, the body which represents Scotland's councils, said it was fully behind the desire to improve the lives of children in care.

Councillor Eric Jackson, Cosla's spokesman for social work and health improvement, said: "It is important to recognise that the problems children in care have come with them when they go into care in the first place.

"What we really need to do is sort out the problems before these children have to come into care."

He said the struggle that vulnerable young people have with education was only part of the story.

Extra tuition

Councillor Jackson explained: "These particular children have great emotional needs which have to be addressed.

"Many have never been in an environment where they can study, so we have to provide the means by which they can catch up with others around them.

"For some, that might mean giving them laptops or for others it might mean extra tuition."

He said that for a percentage of children in care, the measure of improvement would be doing better in exams, for others it might simply mean turning up for school.