67 new schools are to be built in Scotland by March 2018.

The Scottish government has injected £1.25bn which will see places for 46,000 pupils created in every part of Scotland.

An extra 12 schools are due to be built under the third and final phase of Scotland’s Schools for the Future, after £80m was brought forward in last week’s budget.

These extra schools will provide classrooms for an additional 26,000 pupils.

Education Secretary Michael Russell said:

"Providing the best possible school accommodation is vital to the successful delivery of Curriculum for Excellence. The first two phases of Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme are already lifting thousands of pupils out of poor quality buildings.

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"We have met every local authority’s request for priority builds and added an extra 12 schools to the programme because of the Scottish Futures Trust’s vigorous commitment to value for money.

"This is also fantastic news for Scotland’s construction sector. By identifying all 30 schools now, we can get the projects moving and offer some certainty to one of Scotland’s key industries, providing a welcome boost to our economic recovery."

Councillor Bob Constable, leader of Midlothian Council, added:

"Today is about celebrating a major step forward for Midlothian. In the months and years to come, we will be looking at reviewing the facilities we hope to provide from the new school site and will undertake consultation as you would expect at that point."

The Scottish Building Federation (SBF) welcomed the news, but noted in a statement that the money would only start to be spent in 2014.

SBF chief executive Michael Levack commented: "It’s worth noting that this funding has been accelerated into the 2014-15 budget so will have no impact on spending over the next financial year.

"Given how badly construction firms are suffering at the moment, we need to do more to get more shovels into the ground right now – not in 18 months’ time."

(IT)