9,000 Edinburgh pupils unable to return to school over safety concerns

A total of 17 schools across Edinburgh have been shut down due to safety concerns, leaving at least 9,000 pupils unable to return to school after the Easter break.

The schools that have been closed include 10 primaries, five secondaries and two additional support schools, which are thought to have serious structural problems.

All of the schools were built and managed under the same £130 million public-private partnership (PPP) programme.

The Edinburgh Schools Partnership, which built and manages the buildings, has apologised to parents and said it will accept financial responsibility for resolving the issues.

Parents have been informed that the schools will remains closed for the duration of Monday 11 April, although further arrangements for the week are still unclear.

As a result of the closures, Scottish Education Secretary Angela Constance has confirmed that local authorities across Scotland have been asked to carry out necessary safety checks on school buildings.

She told Good Morning Scotland: “The immediate priority is to ensure that everything is being done to support children. We will certainly need answers about what went wrong and why.

“There are, of course, big questions about PFI (private finance initiative) contracts. It’s no secret that this government has long-standing concern but I’ve no doubt that when parliament reconvenes in three or four weeks’ time that there will be renewed interest in this area.”