EDUCATION secretary Fiona Hyslop yesterday admitted a lack of progress had been made in the Scottish Government's pledge of reducing class sizes.
Addressing the SNP conference in Inverness, Ms Hyslop blamed the recession for hampering efforts to cut class sizes to 18 for the first three primary years.
Last month the SNP was accused of a U-turn after announcing plans for a legal limit of 25
pupils in primary one classes.
Yesterday Ms Hyslop told the conference that Labour had left a legacy of "some of the largest class sizes in Europe."
She went on: "It was always going to be hard to turn that around. We all expected and believed that faster progress would be possible.
"None of us saw the recession, and its impact on council finances and teacher numbers coming."
She said average primary class sizes and the pupil-teacher ratio were at record lows, and there had been other improvements.
"And now we are taking the next step", she said. "From next year, we will legally ban the biggest class sizes over 25 in P1.
"That's your SNP government getting on with the job of tackling class sizes."
Labour's Rhona Brankin said last night: "Fiona Hyslop has finally admitted that the SNP has given up on its pledge to reduce class sizes to 18 for the first three years of primary school.
"She should now apologise to pupils, parents and their families.
"She has also broken her promise to abolish student debt, record numbers of newly qualified teachers are unemployed and not a single new school will be built in the lifetime of this government.
"The truth is that Fiona Hyslop is the worst education secretary since devolution and the SNP government has never made a serious effort to keep its promises.
"She should feel personally ashamed of her appalling record."
Ms Hyslop also announced this year's intake of university students is to be increased by 3,000 under a £9 million Scottish Government boost.
Ms Hyslop told the conference: "That's a 10 per cent increase in student numbers this year, financially supported by your SNP government."
She said the extra cash would be focused on science, technology, engineering and maths but would not be restricted to those subjects.
She told the conference it was "good news for students and good news for the economy".
The rise will take effect this academic year, which has already started.
Aides said later that the expansion process was already under way – and courses at some universities did not start until November or December.
The money announced by Ms Hyslop is to be shared between spending on student support, in the form of loans or grants, and payments for their university fees.
Critics warned the money was not enough to pay for the additional places universities have already awarded to satisfy this year's huge surge in demand from applicants.
National Union of Students Scotland president Liam Burns warned it would not cover the full cost of teaching all 3,000 students.
He said: "I have serious concerns about the ability of universities to deliver a high quality learning experience on a bargain basement budget.
"Having more students enter higher education is one of the few positives of the recession."
The number of Scots entering Scottish universities rose by 11.7 per cent this year, with the number of mature students rising by even more, according the university admissions body Ucas.
Many universities over- recruit in the expectation that, in a normal year, many applicants will not take up their place – choosing to work, travel or take up a place at a different university instead.
Tony Axon, of the UCU lecturers union said the move by Ms Hyslop would be welcome if it would prevent universities being fined for attempted to satisfy the huge surge in demand for a university place this year.
He said: "We would welcome the increase in numbers as long as they are fully funded.
"We were concerned there were a lot more people going to university this year and that some universities will have been over recruiting and face a possible fine."
