MSP calls for literacy action plan

EDUCATION Secretary Mike Russell should immediately bring forward an action plan to improve literacy, Labour said today.

The Literacy Commission said last month that the total number of people in Scotland who struggle to read and write "may be approaching a million".

Labour's education spokesman, Des McNulty, said: "With a new education minister in place there is an opportunity for immediate progress of this important report. Labour is calling on Mike Russell to bring forward a literacy action plan based on the commission's report immediately."

Russell said: "I am meeting the commission this week and of course many of their recommendations reflect what is happening in the new Curriculum for Excellence. For example, (it] will ensure that for the first time every teacher will have a role in ensuring that young people become literate."