The Scottish Government was yesterday attacked over moves to tighten up guidance to protect closure-threatened schools.

Rhona Brankin, education spokeswoman for the Scottish Labour Party, said that money, not more guidance, was needed.

The attack came after The Herald revealed that Fiona Hyslop, the Education Secretary, has written to all local authorities highlighting the importance of preserving quality education in their schools, rather than moving to closure to save money or because of short-term population fluctuations.

The new guidance has been issued as an interim measure in advance of planned legislation to introduce a statutory presumption against closure of rural schools, which the SNP hopes to begin consulting on in the near future. The need for closures follows a dramatic drop in the Scottish population, with pupil numbers falling by 50,000 over the past decade.

Ms Brankin said: "SNP councils across the country are considering closing schools and it seems the SNP government is panicking about this. I want to see schools kept open where there is a real community demand and need, but the SNP's response is not to provide the extra funds, but instead simply issue guidance.

"Before the election we heard a lot of talk from the SNP on what they would do to improve education and they were always at the forefront of campaigns to keep schools open. Now that they are in government all this seems to have changed."