Students ‘must be 2m apart’ in class
PUPILS will have to follow strict social distancing rules upon the phased return to classrooms, health experts have warned.
Senior students should stay two metres apart at all times, according to a Scottish Government advisory group.
The rule is already in place for teachers at secondary schools but pupils were only advised to do the same ‘where possible’.
Experts now want this ‘additional protective measure’ to become a formal rule, like the wearing of face masks.
They say the regulations should also be followed on school buses.
Education Secretary John Swinney has hailed the proposals as ‘an important scientific and clinical update’ but has not said if they will be implemented.
The Advisory Sub-Group on Education and Children’s Issues report said: ‘At the current time, and during the phased return to in-person learning, two-metre distancing should be in place for secondary aged pupils, in addition to continuing to be in place for staff.’
However, primary children will not have to maintain such strict distancing. The report adds: ‘Current evidence is that young children remain less likely to transmit the virus and to have serious health effects from it.’
Scotland’s youngest pupils are set to return to school full-time on February 22.
Only a small number of senior secondary pupils are set to go back to the classroom by that same date and will generally be allowed only if they are preparing for exams.
Scottish Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘Any proposals to accelerate the return to classrooms are welcome – but safety guidance must also make sense, be proportionate and backed up with government resources to help councils and schools practically put the measures in place.’