New rules announced for care of children
The Scottish Government has announced changes to how nurseries and childminders will be able to operate under new C ovid restrictions.
The announcement was made on Twitter, and stated that from Boxing Day, while childminders can still open to all children, working within the Tier four guidance, nurseries and other childcare providers can only open for key worker staff and vulnerable children.
The new rules will be in place from 26 December until 18 January, and the government is understood to be meeting with childcare sector representatives today .
The news comes as demands grow for schools, which are still open until Wednesday this week, to be closed in light of the surge in Covid cases.
Teachers’ union the Educational Institute for Scotland said that while it welcomed the government' s decision to delay a return to school after the Christmas holidays until 11 January – with pupils not physically attending school until 18 January – they should now close immediately.
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “With a large number of schools already closed for the break, this late decision will once again create planning challenges for teachers but schools are much better prepared for remote learning than was the case in March.
"Given that the E IS has been calling for a ‘firebreak’ around the Christmas break, we view this announcement as being the correct one,” Mr Flanagan added.