Union urges smaller class sizes to slash risk of virus

TEACHERS should not have to be in charge of classes with more than 30 pupils because of the possible coronavirus risk, a union has said.

The EIS is calling on ministers to reduce class sizes in upper secondary if there is to be no social distancing among pupils.

Education Secretary John Swinney has pledged distancing between children would be avoided when full-time schooling resumes next month, if infection rates remain low.

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said teachers should not have to face classes of 30 young adults because the Government’s scientific advisers admit there is not enough evidence about the role that older pupils play in the transmission of the virus.

It comes as an education chief warned that the plan to open schools fully across Scotland next month is ‘absolutely not a done deal’.

Stephen McCabe, joint chairman of the Scottish Government’s education recovery group, told the Sunday Times unions would strongly oppose the opening of schools on August 11 unless concerns for teachers’ safety are resolved.

Mr Flanagan said: ‘If you don’t have absolute physical distancing then you should at least have smaller classes. A starting point should be practical class sizes which have 20 rather than 30 pupils.’

Last week, the Scottish Government’s scientific advisers said that while the role of pupils in transmission of the virus was understood to be limited, it was ‘less clear’ what the situation was ‘in relation to older, secondary school students’. But they concluded no social distancing among stuNational dents should be the approach taken ‘on the basis of the balance of known risks’.

The Scottish Government has promised £100million over two years for the reopening of schools, but Mr Flanagan said this sum came ‘nowhere close’ to paying for the staffing levels that would be required after months of lockdown.

Scottish Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘There are health, educational and teacher benefits to smaller class sizes and now more than ever they would help schools deal with the current and any future outbreaks of the virus.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The plan to reopen schools is dependent on having measures to ensure the safety of pupils and staff and we will publish guidance on this soon.’

Meanwhile, thousands of pupils are set to launch a ‘tidal wave’ of appeals against ‘unfair’ results, plunging the exams system into chaos.

Some 130,000 youngsters will learn next month what grades they have been awarded for qualifications, including 5s and Highers. The closure of schools saw exams cancelled for the first time ever and pupils unable to submit coursework.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) drew up emergency plans under which it was widely understood that pupils’ grades would be based on assessment by teachers.

But final grades will actually be determined by SQA staff who have not seen a single piece of pupils’ work.

Critics have condemned the system as ‘unfair and inadequate’ – and the EIS has warned it could ‘invoke a tidal wave of appeals and risk undermining confidence in the accreditation system’.

Exam results are out on August 4, and the appeals process begins the same day.

WITH only three weeks until the start of the new academic year, it’s far from clear that full-time schooling will resume as ministers promised. Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney pledged that this was the plan, but since then councils and union bosses have been a great deal more cautious.

The eIS teaching union is calling for class sizes for older pupils to be capped because of fears that staff in charge of large groups of young adults could be at greater risk of contracting Covid-19.

Now a council education chief warns the proposal for state education to restart as normal in August is ‘not a done deal’.

These caveats and conditions do nothing to reassure parents about the SNP’s backto-school strategy.

There’s also legitimate and growing concern over the accuracy of the grading system put in place when lockdown forced the cancellation of exams.

Ministers and education bosses must recognise that failure to get education back on track isn’t an option: the stakes are simply too high.

Children and staff must be kept safe – but any backtracking or further delay now risks the life chances of a generation of young Scots.