Seven councils will split more than £11 million of cash after the Scottish Government announced the first allocations from a new fund aimed at tackling educational inequality.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced earlier this year her government was setting up the £100 million Attainment Scotland Fund in a bid to help youngsters from the poorest parts of Scotland do better at school.
The money is targeted at local councils with the highest concentration of primary-school pupils living in deprived areas.
A total of £11,715,000 has now been awarded to seven councils, with Scotland's largest local authority, Glasgow City Council, receiving the largest share of the cash.
It has been allocated just over £3 million while North Lanarkshire and Dundee councils will both receive more than £2 million, with North Ayrshire's share of the funding in coming in at just under £2 million.
More than £1 million has been allocated to West Dunbartonshire Council while Clackmannanshire Council has been awarded more than £700,000, with almost £600,000 to be spent in the Inverclyde area.
Education Secretary Angela Constance said: "We know school education in Scotland is getting better.
"Official figures published last month showed the percentage of young people leaving school to go into work, education or training is at a record high, with the vast majority of pupils are reaching SCQF level 3 literacy and numeracy or above."
Ms Constance, who was visiting a school holiday club in Clackmannanshire, added: "Our new Scottish Attainment Challenge will play a key role in delivering further improvements, from Glasgow, Scotland's largest local authority, to here in Clackmannanshire, the 'wee' county.
"Good things are happening in all seven of these local authorities and more widely across Scotland, but our fund will intensify efforts to drive improvement where it is needed, with a sharper focus on earlier intervention to close the attainment gap.
"Through measures such as this fund, the provisions in our Education (Scotland) Bill and the development of a National Improvement Framework, we will do all we can to raise attainment and give our young people the best start possible."
ends
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