Save The Children calls for more funding for early-years education
Campaigners have called for more resources to be put into the early years of education as they warn that ''poverty is damaging too many children's learning''.
Save the Children is urging the Scottish Government to increase the number of teachers working in nurseries as well as staff with specialist training in speech and language development.
The call comes as a survey of primary one teachers found 88% believe youngsters with these problems fall behind other pupils in their learning.
Of the 100 teachers questioned, 84% said children whose speech and language development is delayed can struggle to concentrate in the classroom while 59% said they were less likely to enjoy school.
Almost half of teachers (46%) said such students sometimes struggled to understand simple instructions.
Developmental checks carried out on youngsters between the age of 27 and 30 months found concerns reported over the speech and language of 14% of children.
Research by Save the Children also suggested children in poorer communities are twice as likely to have problems when compared to those from the least-deprived areas.
Vicky Crichton, the charity's policy manager in Scotland, said: ''This survey is a snapshot of the issues that still exist and that teachers really feel that more resources are required. Teachers tell us that speech and language delay among children in primary one has an impact on both their experience of school and their future learning, putting them at an unfair disadvantage. Children develop best when they have been exposed to lots of words from a young age - talk, play, stories and nursery rhymes. At the moment, poverty is damaging too many children's learning before they have even set foot in a classroom. If we're serious about closing the gap we must seize the chance to take action - not just in our schools, but to support children's learning in their first few months and years. We want to see bold and ambitious plans to close this gap in the early years, and at its most crucial point.''
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: We want all children and young people to get the support that they need to reach their full learning potential.
''We know there is a link between educational attainment and deprivation, which is why we are seeking to interrupt the cycle of inter-generational poverty at every opportunity. We have already committed to bringing forward a Child Poverty Bill in this Parliamentary year. Closing the attainment gap between young people from our most and least deprived communities will be the defining mission of this government, which is why we are allocating #750 million during the course of this Parliament through the Attainment Scotland Fund, targeting resources at the children, schools and communities which most need them. This is on top of the almost #5 billion currently invested every year in Scotland's school education system. We are also increasing funded early learning and childcare provision for all three and four-year-olds and eligible two-year-olds from 600 hours to 1,140 hours, which will transform the lives of children and their families.''