Cathy Jamieson

Scottish Labour ministers have launched a fierce attack on the SNP's education policies.

Unveiling a pledge to cut class sizes in maths and English, education minister Cathy Jamieson accused the party of drawing up "back of the envelope" policies.

She said that with the recruitment of 1100 extra teachers and 2500 classroom assistants it would be possible to cut class sizes to 20 in the two key subjects during the first two years of secondary school.

"The challenges of entering adolescence while also changing schools can make the new learning on offer difficult to grasp.

"We believe that we can make a real difference to education attainment and secure classroom discipline and other social benefits by paying particular attention to this important period," Jamieson said.

"Labour's clear pledge contrasts with the SNP's back of the envelope promise which has already been downgraded from a five year pledge to a seven year target, with no thought given as to how they would fund the extra school buildings that would be needed."

The minister said it was unclear how the nationalists' would fund their pledge to cut class sizes to 18 for the first three years of primary school.

She said they would take cash from the contingency fund that has paid for foot and mouth, flooding, the fire dispute and aid to fishing communities.

"Unless they are saying that they would not meet such contingencies in the future, the SNP could not possibly afford to cut class sizes."