Pupils hit out at plans to restrict climate strike days to one a year
Pupils have hit out at proposals to limit climate change protests to one day a year.
Thousands of children descended on the Scottish Parliament in March and May as part of a movement in which action was planned in more than 100 towns and cities across the UK.
Edinburgh City Council’s education committee is to discuss the issue tomorrow, with further action planned by the Scottish Youth Climate Strike (SYCS) group on 20 and 27 September as part of global action.
Despite the local authority being one of the first to allow pupils to miss school with parental permission so they could protest, pupils have reacted angrily to any suggestion of restricting the number of strikes allowed.
SYCS organiser Dylan Hamilton, 15, said: “The climate crisis is the biggest threat to humanity, with the group most affected being the children.
“We are the ones who will be impacted the most and all we want is a seat at the table with effective climate targets being decided.
“Allowing us to protest once a year is simply not acceptable and will not let us get across how serious this is to the people in power. Instead of marking us as truants, we should be praised and given help to catch up for adhering to values our schools promote such as celebrating citizenship and being an effective contributor.”
A motion from Green councillor Steve Burgess “notes that Scottish Youth Climate Strikers have notified the council of their intention to march and hold a rally on Friday September 20 as part of this global climate strike”.
The council’s education convener Ian Perry said: “Having discussed this with a number of people, there’s a consensus we should support the young people with climate change – this is one of the most important issues that’s facing them.
“However, there needs to be a balance and if we allow them more than one day, the issue will be they are missing school.”