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URGENT safety checks were ordered across Scottish schools yesterday as thousands of pupils had to stay at home because of fears over their buildings.

A review is under way in Glasgow , Inverclyde and Fife where council bosses are desperate to avoid a repeat of the chaos in Edinburgh.

The Unite union described the situation as a national scandal.

And there were calls for an inquiry into the construction deals when Holyrood reconvenes after the election.

The closures in Edinburgh were called months after part of a wall collapsed at a primary school during a storm.

(Image: Simon Butterworth/Getty)

The scale of the problems forced council chiefs to close all schools built under a private-finance deal involving Miller Construction around a decade ago.

Around 7700 pupils were unable to go to 17 schools across Edinburgh at primary and secondary level.

Last night, Edinburgh City Council said that all primary and special needs school pupils will be back by next Monday.

Pupils in S4-6 at Firhill, Drummond and Royal High Schools will return tomorrow.

But seniors at Gracemount and Craigmount High Schools will have to wait to hear what their arrangements will be.

Work is continuing to find alternatives for pupils in S1 to S3 in all five schools.

Education Secretary Angela Constance raised concerns about the history of private finance deals, known as PPP or PFI, which were embraced by Labour at Holyrood.

The system, first used in Britain under John Major’s Tory government, uses private capital to pay for big projects upfront.

The taxpayer then has to pay back huge sums over the lifetime of the contract.

Constance said: “The immediate priority is to ensure that everything is being done to support children.

“We will certainly need answers about what went wrong and why.”

Yesterday, other council areas with Miller-built schools called for a fresh round of checks.

Glasgow and Inverclyde, where pupils still have another week of holidays, say they want to take all possible precautions.

(Image: Daily Record)

A spokesman for Glasgow council said their PPP contractor, 3Ed, had already given verbal assurances.

The spokesman added: “We do not have the reports in writing from 3Ed but they have reassured us verbally that nothing has been found which would make us feel that we should be closing our schools.

“Our schools will open as normal on Monday, April 18, following the Easter holiday.”

Thirty secondaries and one primary school were built or refurbished under PPP in 2002 across Glasgow. Miller built three secondaries.

Four schools were built under the private-finance initiative in Inverclyde.

A council spokesman said: “While the early indications have been that the situation in Edinburgh is not expected to exist in our schools, we need assurances through inspections that this is the case.”

Shelagh McLean, head of education in Fife, said 11 schools will be re-inspected.

(Image: Stirling University)

The Record contacted former Labour first minister Jack McConnell for comment yesterday but he said he was “too busy”.

McConnell was minister for finance then education before taking the top job between 2001 and 2007.

Teacher leaders were furious at the closures. Mary Alexander, Unite deputy Scottish secretary, said: “The closure of the schools in Edinburgh is a national scandal but it could be the tip of the iceberg.”

The affected schools are looked after through the Edinburgh Schools Partnership

The first sign that something was wrong came in January, when bricks were blown from a wall at Oxgangs Primary School during Storm Gertrude.

The school reopened after a few days – but was closed again in March after an inspection.