A GREATER sense of urgency to tackle the school attainment gap between rich and poor has been called for by the country's new Education Secretary.

A GREATER sense of urgency to tackle the school attainment gap between rich and poor has been called for by the country's new Education Secretary.

Angela Constance told The Herald addressing the underperformance of pupils from deprived areas would be her number one priority - with targeted resources where evidence showed it could make a difference.

In her first interview since taking over the post she said: "We know we have got world class higher education and we know how important our colleges are, but the focus for me and my number one priority is very much on schools and raising attainment.

"It is crucial that we pick up the pace in closing the gap in attainment between children from the most and least disadvantaged backgrounds because we have been talking about this for a long time and I am very clear that is where my priority lies."

The pledge comes after decades of research has shown a significant and persistent gap between the highest-performing pupils and the lowest, who often come from deprived backgrounds.

A study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that, by the time they are five, pupils from poorer backgrounds can be up to a year behind their middle-class peers in educational terms and lack basic skills such as literacy and problem-solving.

By early secondary school, 28 per cent of children from poorer families perform well in numeracy, compared to 56 per cent of those from advantaged backgrounds. Children from poorer families are also more likely to leave school early and without a qualification.

Ms Constance, the MSP for Almond Valley, accepted the SNP would be trying to address the issue at a time of unprecedented public sector spending cuts, but said money that was available had to spent in making the most significant impact possible.

"While we are not in control of all the resources that could be available to us in an independent Scotland we need to be making very wise decisions about the allocation of those resources and continue to work as an entire government to tackle these issues," she said.

"We may have to do things differently, but we also need to be led by what works on the front line because this is not about a top-down government directing what should or should not be done in the classroom. In the weeks and months ahead I will be spending as much time as possible visiting schools and speaking to pupils, teachers and parents.

"We have made good progress in Scottish education, but we do need to have a sense of urgency and, while education must be a universal service, within any universal service you can target more towards either those children who are most in need or those areas that are most in need."

Ms Constance, who was born in 1970 in West Lothian and now lives there with her husband and young son, also stressed the importance of supporting vulnerable families as early as possible, citing her own early career as a social worker as motivation.

"Everything I have learned as a frontline social worker would point me to the need for early intervention and prevention," she said.

"My career as a social worker was spent working with some of the most disadvantaged people in our communities and there were always familiar themes.

"A landmark of the SNP Government has been the pioneering work that we have started to do in terms of the early years and the whole notion of preventative spend across education, health and criminal justice. Attainment and deprivation are intricately linked and if we want to tackle that we have to start as early as possible, as well as working in schools."

Ms Constance was born in Blackburn and raised in Addiewell and West Calder. She studied at Glasgow University, where she was elected president of the Students' Representative Council, and later West Lothian College.

Before her election to Holyrood she worked as a social worker and was also a councillor for West Lothian Council, where she was the SNP spokeswoman for children services and lifelong learning.

In 2014 former First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond promoted her to the Scottish Cabinet in the position of Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women??s Employment.