Pupils cover up as masks become mandatory
‘A habitual part of school life’
SECONDARY pupils across Scotland must wear face masks as they are now required in corridors and on school transport.
But the Education Secretary said children should not be sent home if they refuse to comply with the new guidance.
John Swinney announced updated guidance for schools making it mandatory for pupils and staff to wear masks because of the ‘difficulty’ of physical distancing in ‘crowded corridor environments’. He said: ‘We’ve got to make sure that the wearing of face coverings in schools becomes essentially a habitual part of school life.
‘In our guidance, we make it clear that young people should be encouraged and required to do that, but it should not result in exclusion from school if they don’t.
‘I don’t agree with the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association that young people should be excluded from school if they’re not wearing face coverings, but I do think schools need to build up the cultural understanding and awareness of the importance of wearing face coverings as something that is done to protect all of the school population – staff and pupils alike.’
The new rules, which came into effect yesterday, are ‘precautionary judgments’ based on World Health Organisation advice and concerns from schools since they reopened two weeks ago, Mr Swinney said.
Explaining the decision, he said: ‘These are areas where mixing between different age groups is more likely, increasing the potential for transmission of the virus
‘Close contact in these areas is more likely and then voices may be raised, resulting in greater potential for the [spreading of droplets] and the scope for effective ventilation is often less.
‘For school transport, the adoption of an approach to face coverings applied to children aged five and over will be consistent with the approach on public transport.’