Sturgeon told she needs to cancel exams
The school holidays will not be extended over the Christmas and new year period in Scotland, it has been announced.
Education Secretary John Swinney has ruled out the prospect of extending the holidays to three weeks after this was discussed by the Education Recovery Group.
It came as First Minister Nico - la Sturgeon was under pressure to cancel Higher and Advanced Higher exams next year as a result of the pandemic.
The school holidays will not be extended over the Christmas and new year period in Scotland, it has been announced.
Education Secretary John S win neyh as ruled out the prospect of extending the holidays to three weeks after this was discussed by the Education Recovery Group.
It came as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon came under pressure to cancel Higher and Advanced Higher exams next year as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic.
Leaders of the Scottish Green and Scottish Liberal Democrat par ties, Patrick Har vie and Willie Rennie, both urged Ms Sturgeon to cancel the exams, in the same way her government has already done for next year’s National 5s diet.
However, the First Minister resisted the calls, although she admitted there was a “strong argument” the government should reach a decision on whether they will go ahead sooner rather than later.
The decision not to extend the school holidays met with an angry response from teaching representatives, who say it shows a “complete disregard” for their welfare.
The decision emerged in a letter to Holy rood’ s Educ ation and Skills committee yesterday.
“I have reached the decision not to make any changes to the planned Christmas and new year holiday dates and I am writing today to set out the reasons for this,” the Deputy First Minister states in the letter.
“The Public Health advice that I received is to keep schools open as planned, as the controlled school environment is more preferable to social mixing outside of school if schools are closed early.
“In addition, vulnerable children may be at greater risk if they are out of school for an extended period.
“The view of the Chief Social Work Adviser is that being in school is a very significant protective factor for the most vulnerable children and the longer children are out of school, the more chance there is of hidden harm.”
The prospect of a national break was considered to minimise virus spread after Christmas. It would have meant all schools shutting down on 18 December and reopening on 11 January.
It was considered as a way to limit the re - circulation of the virus after the anticipated spike in cases over the five-day festive period when restrictions will be relaxed to allow families to come together.
But Mr Swinney states: “Public health advice is, on balance, that there would be less transmission of Covid-19 through children and young people being in school than mixing out of school.”
The proposed change had prompted concerns that parents, particularly key workers, would be left with a major headache over childcare arrangements.
But the decision came under fire from Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union. He said :“Many teachers across Scotland will be disappointed and angered at the Scottish Government decision, which once again shows a complete disregard for the concerns and welfare of teachers.
“The E IS had asked that schools move to remote learning in the final week to ensure that senior staff did not find themselves having to work during the Christmas break to deal with any Covid outbreaks and also to minimise the risk for staff, pupils and parents of infections ruining the Christmas break.
“Allowing this would have helped protect staff, students and their families during the festive season and reduce the risk of pupils or teachers being required to self-isolate over Christmas, while also ensuring that education provision continued.”
He added: “It would appear that this is yet another political decision by the Scottish Government, which may thank teachers, but is unwilling to listen to them.”
MSPS have also argued that disruptions to senior pupils’ learning as a result of Covid should force the Scottish Government to cancel Higher and Advanced Higher exams next year.
The senior exams have already been cancelled in Wales, but Mr Swinney has said a final decision in Scotland won’t be made until midFebruary.
Mr Harvie, who raised the case of a pupil who has already had to self-isolate three times yet faces prelims in a few months’ time, said: “This week the Education Secretary told Parliament that one in four S4-6 pupils have already experienced a Covid-related absence, so it makes no sense to delay the decision on the exam diet any further.
“Young people have experienced enough stress and anxiety this year to last a lifetime. And, as is often the case, it’s those from the most deprived communities who’ve been disproportionately affected .””
Ms Sturgeon insisted the government was considering the issue “very, very carefully”.
She said: “We ideally want Higher and Advanced Higher exams to proceed, but the public health advice must allow that and it must be not just safe to do so, but it must be safe to all learners and we absolutely recognise that.
“We know there is potential for further disruption, which is why contingency plans for Higher and Advanced Higher courses are being developed and the Deputy First Minister has made clear that a final decision on Higher and Advanced Highers will be taken no later than mid-february – but it will be taken sooner than that if the evidence suggests that that is the right thing to do.”
A survey by the National Parent Forum of S cotland found a majority of Scottish parents believe Higher and Advanced Higher exams should be cancelled, with a decision made before Christmas.