FIFE'S secondary schools lag far behind the rest of Scotland when it comes to PE provision, a Fife MSP has claimed.

Statistics produced by the Scottish Government revealed that while 91.6 per cent of Scotland’s secondary schools met the target of providing at least 100 minutes per week, only 72.2 per cent of Fife’s high schools did.

Mid Scotland and Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell said Fife high schools had been below the Scottish average since 2014.

He did recognise, however, that primary schools were not behind and were "better than 100 per cent" as they met a target of at least 120 minutes of PE activity per week.

"I’m delighted that every primary school in Fife is hitting the target for PE provision but it is a real shame that those figures drop off significantly for secondary schools," he said.

“Obviously, the pandemic has had an impact on schools’ ability to provide indoor PE but Fife has been lagging behind for some years now.

“Good-quality PE is an important part of every child’s education and shouldn’t be seen as an optional extra.

“I urge the Scottish Government and Fife Council to work together to ensure that the excellent foundations laid in primary schools carry on in secondary.”

Convener of Fife Council's education and children's services sub-committee, Councillor Craig Walker, said work was ongoing to improve the figures.

"All of our secondary schools work to meet our requirements at S4 with 13 currently achieving this," he said. "The remaining have plans in place to improve their position this coming academic year."