Empty classrooms warning as Covid increases in schools
●Growing case numbers and parents’ holiday anxieties blamed for absences
Large numbers of Scottish schoolchildren will miss the final week of the school term due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been warned.
It is feared there could be a major jump in absenteeism due to a combination of high numbers of new cases forcing classmates to self-isolate and pupils being kept off in an attempt to avoid potential contact that could result in families missing out on booked summer holidays.
Provisional figures indicate 15,687 Scottish pupils were already absent for Covid-related reasons at the end of last week, with overall attendance dropping to 87.8 per cent – the lowest percentage since pupils returned after Easter.
This includes a large proportion of children absent due to the need to selfisolate, rather than actually suffering from Covid-19.
It is thought the rise is partly driven by the emergence of the Delta variant, first discovered in India, which is significantly more transmissible than other strains. More than nine out of ten new infections involve the Delta variant, with the number of cases across the UK trebling in the past week.
Children’s rights campaigners say families should have the power to decide for themselves the best course
of action. Jo Bisset, organiser for Us For Them Scotland, said: “Parents know what’s best for their kids and after the horrendous year they’ve had should be afforded some freedom of choice at last.
“Of course, the over-zealous rules and continuing confusion over guidance isn’t helping them to make a decision.
“If schools had stayed open throughout and the government had prioritised the rights of children, none of these dilemmas would now be presenting themselves.”
Scottish Greens health and social care spokeswoman Gillian Mackay has suggested schools should be “sympathetic” if pupils are absent.
“It is understandable that many families will want to avoid the risk of catching Covid in the final days of what has been a hugely challenging school year,” she said.
“I’d encourage young people to continue using the regular tests that are available to them. I’d urge schools to adopt a sympathetic approach to any such absences.”
But a number of Scottish local authorities have warned that keeping pupils off school unnecessarily will be considered an “unauthorised absence”, including Moray and Edinburgh.
Glasgow City Council is also urging parents to send their offspring to classes.
A spokeswoman for the authority said: “We understand that our children and
young people have had a very tough year and our schools will be encouraging pupils to attend school up to the last day of term as the stringent health and safety measures remain in place to help reduce the risk of the virus.”
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesman said: “Any unauthorised absences would be dealt with by individual schools in line with our
absence policy.” Cake-maker Lee Picken, a mother of two from the Juniper Green area of Edinburgh, has already twice been forced to postpone a booked foreign getaway in the past year because of the pandemic.instead she is planning a two-week staycation in the UK, visiting relatives in Stratford-upon-avon followed by a seven-day stay at a Center Parcs resort.but now she
fears the long-awaited break could fall through at the last minute due the recent rise in Covid cases being reported in schools and the chance that her children might be required to self-isolate.
She is discussing the idea of keeping nine-year-old son Rory and six-year-old daughter Lois home from school for the final week of term to lower the risk of contact with a
positive case.“my thinking is that the kids have had a really rubbish time over the past 18 months,” she said. “They deserve a holiday and we kind of need one as a family.
“The worst-possible scenario would be if they had to self-isolate because of Covid and we couldn’t go away. “It might not happen, but I’m not sure we want to take the risk.”
The Scottish Conservatives called for “robust measures” in schools to ensure pupil safety and minimise further disruptions to learning.
Oliver Mundell, shadow education secretary for the party, said: “It is understandable that parents are concerned that their own children might be at risk of catching the virus."