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Scotland's senior chief inspector of education has sent out a warning to local authorities that buying books and resources for residential units and for foster carers will not, in itself, stop looked-after children losing out on their education.

Douglas Osler told Community Care: "Looked-after children have emotional, behavioural and social problems. Education offers them their best chance of leaving these problems behind them. In order to get a life they need to get a living and to get a living they need to get an education. But giving books to residential homes and foster carers will not ensure they get that education."

His remarks came on the eve of a national conference on looked-after children in Edinburgh last week. And they follow a £10m handout from the executive that local authorities must spend on educational resources for looked-after children by the end of the month.

The cash was a response to a joint report by Scottish inspectors in education and social work plus a subsequent survey initiated by former education minister Jack McConnell. It found targets that all looked-after children receive full-time education had not been met.

Glasgow and Edinburgh Councils were not able to tell McConnell how many of their looked-after children were in full-time education. Osler said that was a matter for concern and added: "What the inspectors found too, was that, in some secondary schools, staff were not even able to identify which pupils were in care."