Schools MUST stay open, says Sturgeon despite union threat

SChOOLS will remain open in areas with the highest restrictions, despite fears teachers could strike over coronavirus safety concerns.

The Educational Institute of Scotland ( EIS) i s surveying teaching staff across the country on the prospect of industrial action.

It comes as Covid-related pupil absences in Scotland hit a record high, with 30,000 youngsters missing out on face-to-face learning last Tuesday.

Though Nicola Sturgeon said she does not take school safety lightly, she insisted that they would remain open.

Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said teachers are no more likely to be infected than people in other occupations.

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan yesterday told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme members had been asked whether they are ‘ prepared to consider industrial action in terms of a safety strike protest’.

It is understood this could see teachers balloted for strike action in local authority areas with higher coronavirus rates of infection.

The EIS has repeatedly called for ministers to consider blended learning in Level 4 areas and urged a cautious approach to safety for teachers and other school staff.

Mr Flanagan said: ‘We’re not saying schools are the main drivers.

‘What we’re saying is schools are part of the spread of the virus and you only have to look in Glasgow at the moment, where we have two secondary schools with nearly 400 pupils in each school who are having to isolate because they are either infected or a contact.

‘If there was no evidence that pupil-to-pupil transmission takes place, why are there literally 30,000 pupils off school because of contacts?

‘There clearly is a level of transmission within schools and those pupils who sit side by side most of the day then go back into their homes, and their parents are part of the broader community.’

At her daily briefing yesterday

Miss Sturgeon said she would ask adults to bear more restrictions to ensure schools are able to remain open for face-to-face teaching.

She added: ‘Young people have had months out of school already this year and, if we can at all avoid it, we want to ensure that they don’t have further time out of normal full-time schooling.’

Jo Bisset, the organiser for campaign group UsForThem Scotland, said: ‘The Scottish Government should stick to its word and keep schools open as normal, even i n Tier 4 council areas.

Blended learning was, at best, a farce. For many in the poorest areas, it cast children adrift from an education system which they’re now unlikely to catch up with.’

Scottish Conservative education spokesman Jamie Greene said: ‘ Strikes and online l earning are not the answer, as pupils would suffer.

‘But the Government must start delivering a fairer deal for teachers that protects them from the virus and gives them the proper level of resources needed to safely keep schools open.’

‘Prepared to consider action’