Campaigners have claimed the parents of secondary pupils will be “furious” after they were “left on the scrapheap” following a Scottish Government announcement on the easing of lockdown.
Secondary parents will be furious at return announcement, campaigners claim
Under the plans, the remainder of primary school pupils and more senior phase secondary pupils will return in the next phase, which will not be before March 15.
Younger secondary children will go back in the final phase of easing lockdown, which will be at least three weeks later, on the same date the stay at home order is rescinded.
The news comes as the first three years of primary schools and some later phase secondary pupils, required to undertake essential practical work, were allowed to return this week.
Nicola Sturgeon
Announcing the move in Holyrood, the First Minister described returning all children to in-person schooling as “the immediate priority” for the Scottish Government.
Jo Bisset, organiser of UsForThem Scotland, who have repeatedly criticised the Scottish Government’s approach to education during the pandemic, said: “This appalling decision leaves secondary pupils on the scrapheap.
“Despite all the warnings and the evidence about harm being caused to young people through schools being closed, still the First Minister won’t listen.
“Her government is very deliberately choosing a course of action that will wreck their education and obliterate the formative years of their lives.
READ MORE: No surge in cases expected when classes return
“Parents have been patient to this point but those with children above primary school will be utterly furious at this.
“The damage being done now is obvious, or at least it should be to ministers, but there are problems for the future too.”
With secondary pupils not returning until at least April 5 in Scotland, Ms Bisset said pupils in England will receive two months more of teaching than their counterparts north of the border, due to schools breaking up earlier for the summer holiday.
Meanwhile, Larry Flanagan, the general secretary of the teaching union EIS, said: “The EIS continues to believe that a blended model, with approximately half of pupils in class at any one time, would provide a more suitable basis for the return.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon under pressure over face masks
“With rates of infection in the community still a cause for concern, and the fact of increased aerosol transmission of the new variant, reducing numbers in classrooms is the safest approach to minimising risk.
“The evidence reported over the weekend about the role of children in transmission should be examined by the Scottish Government, and not simply dismissed.
“Improving ventilation is critical and providing school staff with medical grade masks would help reduce any potential spread of the virus.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel