Classroom return in chaos as Sturgeon ‘changes the plan’

Now part-time learning is only a ‘contingency’

PLANS to reopen schools descended into chaos yesterday after Nicola Sturgeon claimed part-time learning is now just a ‘contingency’.

The First Minister gave hope to parents when she signalled that officials are drawing up a blueprint for blended learning only ‘in case we need it’.

It marks a ‘significant shift’ in her position – after she previously said youngsters will return to school part-time in August.

But minutes after her comments, a spokesman for the First Minister said blended learning remains the core plan.

Education Secretary John Swinney has also insisted that social distancing will remain in place, which would force a phased return to the classroom.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: ‘That is not clarity, it is chaos.’

Pupils are due to return to a ‘blended’ model from August 11, with learning split between home and school.

It is not known how long this could last, but Miss Sturgeon has insisted she does not want it to go on for the whole of the next school year. There are concerns part-time schooling could affect children from deprived backgrounds more, as well as heap pressure on working parents.

Former first minister Jack McConnell said the description of blended learning as a ‘contingency’ plan was a ‘significant shift’ in Miss Sturgeon’s previous position.

At the Scottish parliament yesterday, Miss Sturgeon said the Government’s four-phase plan for easing lockdown included an education route map which featured blended learning.

She added: ‘We are now working with councils to implement that plan, which was agreed through the recovery group by the Government, councils, education trade unions and parents organisations.

‘That is the plan we are now operationalising with councils in case we need that contingency for blended learning.’

But when asked to give parents an indication of when schooling would return to normal, Miss Sturgeon did not set out a timeline.

Instead she said: ‘My commitment to parents and to young people is as it always has been – to get normality back into education, as we want to get it into every aspect of our lives, as quickly as possible but as safely as possible.’

A spokesman for the First Minister later said the strategy for blended learning was a core plan for dealing with the virus compared to normal schooling in non-pandemic times. But Scottish Tory leader Jackson Carlaw accused Miss Sturgeon of ‘dithering and buck-passing’.

He added: ‘We must not put a price tag on our children’s future. But that’s exactly what the SNP is doing with this completely unsatisfactory plan for a partial return.

‘Nicola Sturgeon knew in March something would have to be done to get children back into the classroom, but still things are a complete mess. The SNP needs to sort this out now or risk failing an entire generation of young people.’

Experts have called on Miss Sturgeon to requisition community halls and other buildings if blended learning is needed. Lindsay Paterson, Professor of Education Policy at the University of Edinburgh, said hubs should be created for children for when they are not in schools, supervised by retired and trainee teachers, to allow parents to return to work.

He told the BBC: ‘Parents have been very patient and I think they are now getting very angry. There is a complete lack of imagination and leadership on this.’

Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We will look into additional teaching capacity, whether it comes from retired teachers or other sources that we can get that capacity from.’

‘The SNP needs to sort this out now’

DAY by day the SNP’s plans to reopen schools become ever more chaotic.

We know that behind the scenes the Government’s own scientists are split on social distancing.

Some of them say it’s not needed in schools – which are now wrestling with the enormous logistical implications.

Indeed Devi Sridhar, a senior academic who advises Nicola Sturgeon, said on Tuesday the enforced separation of pupils was redundant if the virus was kept at bay.

Overnight, she changed tack. Whatever the reason, isn’t the Nationalist case for what’s euphemistically called ‘blended learning’ now falling apart at the seams?

Closing the ‘attainment gap’ was once the overriding objective of Miss Sturgeon and her ministers.

Now it threatens to grow to unmanageable levels, with pupils attending school for one or two days a week, possibly for a year.

This week, parents and business leaders have joined the chorus of protest against the make-do-and-mend approach advocated by Miss Sturgeon.

Parents are sick of home-educating without the back-up of local authorities and government quangos posted missing in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.

Education Secretary John Swinney’s every pronouncement appears to be contradicted by Miss Sturgeon, reinforcing the impression of a hopelessly confused message. There are also grave economic consequences: parents need to get back to work, but part-time schooling makes this impossible for many.

According to a survey this week, 62 per cent of parents said their children had received no online lessons or tutoring.

Parents are desperate for clarity from a floundering administration.

Miss Sturgeon must set out concrete plans for all pupils to get back to school in August – before parents lose faith in her judgment.