MORE than half of youngsters who left school in Scotland in 2015/16 did not have a key maths qualification.

Labour is demanding urgent action from Education Secretary John Swinney after figures showed that just 43.4 per cent of all school leavers passed maths at National 5 level or above (the equivalent of a Standard Grade credit level under the previous exam system).

The party has already highlighted a fall in the number of stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) teachers across the country, saying this had fallen from 6,821 in 2007, the year the SNP came to power, to 5,995 at the most recent count.

Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: "Nicola Sturgeon promised to make education her top priority – but now we discover that attainment in this critical subject is declining.

"Education Secretary John Swinney needs to urgently address the falling attainment in maths, and explain how he plans to improve outcomes in this key subject."

But a spokesman for Swinney attacked Labour for having failed to put forward a "single positive idea for change" in schools.

He said: "We have recognised the challenges schools face. That's why we have only last week launched the most radical reform of education in decades. This will see more power and money going to schools and teachers – the people best placed to improve education.

"Incredibly, days after loudly opposing these reforms, Labour are only willing to point out the problems, never suggest a solution. Yet again they have not offered a single positive idea for change. That's a dereliction of duty and utterly fails our pupils."

The row comes after the latest Scottish Government figures showed the number of youngsters from the poorest parts of Scotland leaving school with at least one Higher had increased, but was still just over half the rate of pupils from the least-deprived communities.

In the most-deprived areas, 42.7 per cent of those leaving school in 2015-16 had a minimum qualification of one Higher, up by 1.5 points from 41.2 per cent the previous year.

However, in the most-affluent parts of the country 81.2 per cent of school leavers had one Higher or more, a rise of 0.9 points from 2014/15.