Thousands of pupils not taught first aid

Figures show swathes of schools across Courier Country aren’t giving pupils opportunity to learn lifesaving skills

Thousands of Tayside children are not being taught lifesaving skills in schools, according to data from freedom of information (FOI) requests.

Figures across the whole of Scotland show a striking number of children are being left behind as, according to the returned FOIs, no council area offers training to every school pupil.

First aid is not a compulsory requirement on the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland, meaning schools are able to choose whether training is provided, and the frequency with which it is taught.

Schools in England will receive comprehensive first aid training from September in an effort to boost the country’s cardiac survival rates in years to come. Primary and secondary children will be taught emergency skills that fit their abilities.

But the figures show Scotland is lagging behind in developing an “army of lifesavers”, as the data revealed a postcode lottery across the country.

Half of Dundee’s secondary schools are receiving first aid training, with pupils from Craigie High, Morgan Academy and St Paul’s receiving no training in the previous year.

Braeview Academy is leading the way in the city, with S1 to S5 pupils being trained by Heartstart Discovery over a four-hour period.

But, according to the figures, no school in the City of Discovery offers training to all pupils, as Baldragon only trained S2 pupils over five periods and Grove

Academy seniors were trained by Heartstart over one day, meaning thousands of pupils missed out on learning the lifesaving skills.

In Angus, 49% of primary schools gave training in the emergency techniques, with only seven offering the training to all pupils.

The majority of secondary schools in Angus only offer senior pupils, from S 4 to S 6, any form of first aid training. This trend is matched across the country in almost every local constituency, which means many youngsters may not know how to save a life.

Two Angus high schools, Carnoustie and Webster’s High, train seniors who are enrolled in the Sports Leadership Academy, while Arbroath, Forfar and Webster’s also offer training to younger year groups.

Pupils in Perth and Kinross are also being left behind, with just five secondary schools offering training in first aid.

Perth Grammar School is the only institution to offer training to all year groups.

Bertha Park, Kinross High, St John’s Academy, Breadalbane Academy and Pitlochry High also offer to a selection of age groups.

The majority of primary schools in Perth and Kinross train pupils in primary seven through Safe Taysiders.

Fife Council did not respond to the request for information.