Reopen schools early, say Tories

PRESSURE is mounting on Nicola Sturgeon to fully reopen schools a month earlier than planned – amid claims that data supports the move.

The Scottish Conservatives are challenging the First Minister to move her timetable forward.

Children in primaries one to three returned to school last week along with some senior secondary students as part of Scotland’s first step out of lockdown.

The next step will see the rest of primary pupils return from March 15. But schools will only fully reopen on April 19 when secondary students will be allowed back into the classroom.

However, the Scottish Conservatives believe that all pupils in Scotland should be back to school in two weeks.

Tory education spokesman Jamie Greene has called for rapid Covid-19 test kits to be made available to all pupils and their families, following plans unveiled elsewhere in the UK.

Mr Greene said: ‘Public health data supports accelerating school reopening plans.

‘The SNP should U-turn this week and start giving people more hope of when lockdown restrictions will finally ease.’

The party says transmission rates are lower than when schools stayed open in October, November and December.

The demands come after claims in The Mail on Sunday that Miss Sturgeon is preparing to announce a speedier return for pupils.

A source said while a final decision is still to be made, ministers and civil servants are discussing a move to all secondary students from S1 to S6 to return to the classroom from March 15.

This is likely to see youngsters attend part-time, or that they follow a blended learning model.

It is understood an announcement could form part of Miss Sturgeon’s update on the pandemic to the Scottish parliament tomorrow.

Last night, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘It remains our ambition to return all children to inschool learning as soon as it is safe to do so.

‘However, we must balance this aim with the need to continue to control rates of infection, particularly in light of new variants.’