Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth is under pressure to make an emergency statement about the impending loss of 'crucial' school IT services.

Yesterday, The Herald revealed that teachers and pupils across the country could lose access to popular software such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint from 1 August 2024, which is when the free licence currently in use in Scotland expires.

The Scottish Government has known about the changes since August last year, and told The Herald that it has been “engaging closely with local authorities.” COSLA, which represents local authorities, said that it is “working with partners (including the Scottish Government and Education Scotland) to understand whether this will have any impact on provision of digital services within schools.”

Scottish Labour’s education spokesperson, Pam Duncan-Glancy, has now written to Ms Gilruth demanding “urgent clarity and action” from the Scottish Government.

In her letter, Ms Duncan-Glancy says that it is “becoming clear that the scale of the impact that this change will bring has not been considered or communicated with the workforce.”

This, she argues, is “a serious dereliction of duty from the Government and represents significant incompetence, not least because the changes of access through licensing have been known since autumn last year.”

Ms Duncan-Glancy goes on to say that it is Ms Gilruth’s “responsibility” to address the problem and insists that the public deserve answers over “exactly how long the Government has known about this situation, what engagement the Government has had with schools, teachers, pupils, and parents to inform them of the situation, and what the Government will do to fix it.”

As parliament is current in recess, Ms Gilruth is asked to “make a statement from St Andrew’s House providing much-needed answers.”

In addition to the letter to Ms Gilruth, Ms Duncan-Glancy has also submitted a total of 12 parliamentary questions. These includes requests for confirmation that an Equality Impact assessment has been completed by the government, information about the likely costs involved in maintaining existing IT services for teachers and pupils, assessment of the likely impact of a loss of service on the delivery of education.

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She also asks about the government’s engagement with the teaching working and trade unions regarding the loss of the current Microsoft licence.

The EIS teaching union has also demanded answers, pointing out that with “schools returning in a matter of weeks, teachers too need certainty about the potential impact of any changes on the delivery of teaching and learning in classrooms.”

Since The Herald broke the story yesterday, many teachers have taken to social media to express their shock at the situation and provide examples of the ways in which the impending changes will impact on their ability to teach pupils.

The EIS spokesperson also highlighted that the loss of crucial IT tools will worsen existing educational inequalities and negatively affect young people from the most deprived backgrounds:

“For some time now, the EIS has raised concerns about the unequal access among school pupils to digital devices and internet connectivity, highlighting the difficulties that young people from the poorest backgrounds face in engaging with homework activities that require internet research, either because they have no computer at home or because access to the internet is limited or non-existent at home.

“With a quarter of young people in Scotland living in poverty and therefore digital poverty, due regard must be had in all aspects of education delivery to the stark inequalities that exist with regards to students’ internet access in terms of availability of working devices, WiFi or data purchase. Any changes to the accessibility of online tools, currently available through Glow, which would exacerbate existing digital exclusion and impact negatively on the outcomes and life chances of the poorest learners would be of significant concern and require urgent review.

“In seeking to eradicate child poverty and deliver better outcomes for children, the Scottish Government must ensure that learners have free and equal access to essential learning resources and that teachers are supported and equipped to deliver quality education.”

In response to a request for comment, the Scottish Government reissued their existing statement with some additional information confirming the shift to online-only access.

Their spokesperson said:

“The loss of free Microsoft Office downloads is the result of an enforced change by Microsoft, announced in August last year. Since then, Education Scotland has been engaging closely with local authorities, who are responsible for the delivery of education services.

“Glow users will continue to have access to a range of Microsoft products from 1 August 2024. The recent global changes to licensing mean that these services will now be accessed via web browser rather than desktop application. 

“The Scottish Government will invest £10 million this year for the provision of devices and connectivity to support digital inclusion for low-income families struggling with the cost of living.”