Shocking new statistics have revealed Dundee pupils receive over a year’s less tuition than their peers in neighbouring council areas over the course of their time at school.
A Freedom of Information request by thinktank Reform Scotland found that Dundee pupils will spend 1,710 hours in the classroom each year from primary one to the end of fifth year at high school.
However, those in Angus will be taught for 1,995 hours over the same period while those in Fife and Perth and Kinross will be in class for 1,984.5 hours.
The figures are based on seven years in primary school and five years in high school and do not take lunch hours or breaks into account.
Although Section 5 of the Schools General (Scotland) Regulations states schools must be open 190 days a year, there are no laws surrounding how many hours a day they must be open.
Only children growing up in Midlothian will spend as little time in the class over 12 years as those in Dundee.
Reform Scotland’s research director Alison Payne said: “We were surprised by the huge variation in hours exposed by our findings. We do not object to the variation in hours per se, because we believe that local authorities, and indeed individual schools, should have more control over their operation.
“However, we strongly object to the lack of transparency which appears to prevent parents from gaining full knowledge of this situation.
“We seriously doubt, for example, that many parents in Dundee will realise their children will receive the equivalent of two years’ less teaching time than their peers just up the road in Aberdeenshire.
“This is unfair, unequal and wrong, because it prevents parents from making choices with the full information in mind.”
Dundee primary pupils receive 855 hours’ teaching time per year compared to 945 in Fife and Perth and Kinross and 950 in Angus, although it is just below 900 for those in primaries one to three.
At secondary school Dundee pupils will be taught for 855 hours a year. In Angus secondary pupils receive 1,045 hours’ tuition while those in Fife and Perth and Kinross receive 1,039.5.
It means Dundee pupils spend half an hour less a day being taught than children in surrounding councils areas.
Over 12 years of schooling this adds up to more than 1,600 hours nearly double the teaching time they receive in a normal year.
Scottish Conservative young people spokeswoman Liz Smith said: “I am sure this research will disturb many parents.
“School contact time does not necessarily correlate with the quality of education on offer but two years is a very substantial difference.
“Reform Scotland is quite correct to say there should be full transparency over this. Parents have a right to know about these differences, particularly if any evidence emerges to suggest that fewer hours are having a detrimental effect on pupil performance.”
Dundee-based Labour MSP Jenny Marra said: “Parents in Dundee will be wondering why their children are getting less time with teachers than just about everywhere else in Scotland.
“It’s hard to think of a single good reason why this would be the case and I would expect the city council to respond urgently to this revelation.”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “There are currently no plans to change the length of the school day in Dundee. Exam results are improving, with staff and pupils continuing to work hard to improve attainment.”
The Courier asked the Scottish Government for a response but none was received before publication.