Fury as term end puts teachers at risk
Raging teachers in the region have hit out at council chiefs over the school term ending today - potentially exposing them to the virus two days before Christmas.
Teaching unions had called for the Scottish Government to step in and shut all schools at the end of last week, allowing teachers the chance to isolate themselves for a period before spending time with at-risk relatives over the festive period.
But that call was rejected and the decision over term dates remains with individual local authorities - with Stirling keeping pupils in until December 23.
One secondary school teacher based in Stirling told the Observer they felt the council had failed in its duty of care towards teachers.
The teacher said:“the teachers in this region are all due in work on December 23 and will face a 26 hour gap between finishing work and Christmas Day.
“We hoped the Scottish Government would align the system for everyone to finish on December 18, with remote learning in place on the other days but that hasn’t happened.
”Councils have been spending money on IT including Chromebooks so remote learning is viable.
“Local authorities have also been asked by the EIS to look again at this, but Stirling so far has not responded to that and most other local authorities have responded in the negative.
”It’s been compounded with English schools able to have an in-service day on the 18th, which means they can effectively bring the shutters down on the 17th.
The teacher added: ”This gives them a clear week before Christmas and allows them to have a family bubble over this period, but teachers here will be in until the 23rd and therefore can’t meet with elderly relatives.
”Teachers are absolutely raging about this.
“Even the most mild-mannered of colleagues are saying they are outraged by the whole situation.
”We are employed by the local authorities and they have a duty of care but we feel that duty of care has been woeful over this issue.
“You’ve also got the potential situation that headteachers could be involved in track and trace on Christmas Day and Public Health Scotland could be calling headteachers on the day for contact tracing.”
Outlining his decision to keep current holiday dates in place, Education Secretary John Swinney said closing earlier would put vulnerable children at greater risk of falling behind and also pointed out the“significant difficulties”that an extension to the holidays could cause working parents.
Mr Swinney also stressed the safety of schools as not driving transmission of the virus and that there was“no clear rationale”for disrupting educational arrangements.
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “Stirling Council is continuing to follow national guidance on the safety of schools and nurseries during the covid-19 pandemic.
“We are aware this is a difficult and uncertain time for all school and nursery staff and we are hugely grateful to them for their dedication and hard work during this challenging time.”