The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Pupils’ app will remain offline amid concerns
Call for review into education department
Education Secretary John Swinney has said access to the school social networking tool Yammer will not be restored until he receives a personal assurance that issues with inappropriate content have been resolved.
The Scottish Government is facing calls for an “urgent review” into its own education department after being forced to pull the plug on access to the service.
As revealed in The Courier on Monday, Education Scotland signed off on Yammer being rolled out to schools across the country despite knowing it was vulnerable to inappropriate content and individuals looking to find children to “do them harm”.
Scottish Labour’s education spokesman Iain Gray said the Scottish Government must “quickly establish why apparent risks were ignored” and “what harm has been done to our children”.
Mr Swinney said inappropriate content “should not have been visible to younger pupils” and “there are clear improvements required in the moderation system”.
The Scottish Government is facing calls for an “urgent review” into its own education department after being forced to pull the plug on a school social networking app following concerns over inappropriate content.
Education Scotland locked down Yammer profiles on Friday after The Courier revealed how bosses had signed off on the service despite knowing it was vulnerable to inappropriate content and individuals looking to find children to “do them harm”.
Ministers have now been told they must urgently investigate why the app was made available to schoolchildren without greater checks and balances and learn any lessons to better protect youngsters in future.
Education Secretary John Swinney was also urged by opposition politicians to explain what action the Scottish Government will now take to keep children safe.
It has further emerged parents previously attempted to raise concerns with Education Scotland, the office of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and local digital learning teams – but received no response until The Courier raised the issue.
The service will not be reinstated until the conclusion of a review into how the content, including graphic bloody images and messages from individuals with paedophile in their username, came to make its way on to the app and Mr Swinney has received personal assurances.
A timeframe for its return has not been given by Education Scotland but a temporary suspension put in place over the weekend has been extended indefinitely.
Scottish Labour’s education spokesman Iain Gray said: “SNP Education Secretary John Swinney must get to grips with this immediately and order an urgent review to find out what has gone on inside his own department.
“The SNP government must quickly establish why apparent risks were ignored, what harm has been done to our children and what can be done to make the app safe.
“Many parents worry for their children’s safety online but they should have confidence they are safe when doing schoolwork.
“Swift action must be taken by John Swinney to sort this mess out.”
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr called for a proper investigation into how the social networking tool came to be included in Glow, Education Scotland’s national “digital learning platform”.
“Any online service which is modelled around children and schools must be absolutely airtight,” he said.
“I’d expect the SNP government to urgently review why this was included in Glow.
“Lessons must be learned to keep this potentially dangerous situation from arising again.”
Andy Burrows, an online child safety expert with the NSPCC, said it was “really concerning” that Education Scotland appeared to have failed to deliver an app “with child safeguarding principkes front and centre”.