15,000 PUPILS HIT BY COVID RULES CHAOS
Thousands isolating amid anger over stay-at-home guidelines
NEARLY 15,000 children are currently self-isolating amid warnings that new rules aimed at keeping schools open are being flouted.
A shake-up of coronavirus regulations means pupils only need to self-isolate if they are confirmed as ‘close contacts’ of someone with the virus.
They can come back to school once they have tested negative for Covid, limiting the amount of class time they miss.
However, last night a parents’ group warned that the rules were not being applied evenly, creating a lottery that has led to continuing turmoil in schools.
Jo Bisset, organiser for UFTScotland, said: ‘It’s abundantly clear from our members across the country that many schools and local authorities are just making rules up as they go along.
‘That’s where the Government has to step in and be clearer about what should be
happening. It’s no good setting rules if thousands of kids across the country are being punished through arbitrary and knee-jerk responses in their local area.’
The latest Scottish Government figures show 14,914 pupils are not in school for Covid-related reasons, up from 11,987 for the week of August 23 and 7,886 for the week ended August 20.
At this time last year, in the week of August 24, there were 19,695 Covid-related pupil absences.
Children or young people who are contacts of someone with Covid but who have not tested positive themselves are not required to isolate unless they develop one of the core symptoms of the virus.
According to NHS guidance, school-aged close contacts should be advised to book a PCR test as soon as possible, and only end self-isolation and return to school if/when they receive a negative result.
Ministers had claimed this would see a ‘large reduction in the number of children and young people required to selfisolate, with only positive cases and people with symptoms being required to be absent from school until such time as they receive a negative result from a PCR test’.
But scores of schools have been forced to close after a spike in Covid cases, with Highland Council chiefs confirming last week that around a third of schools in the area have been hit by the virus. The big rise has led to the closure of about 60 schools.
Close contacts may have been near the infected person at some point in the 48 hours before their symptoms appeared, or at any time since their symptoms appeared.
Being near someone means face-to-face contact with the person within one metre for any length of time, within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact, or within one to two metres for 15 minutes or more.
Campaigners say this means there should be no reason why entire classes need to be sent home.
Meanwhile, ministers have been warned teacher shortages could result in pupils being sent home from school if Covid cases keep rising.
Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said Covid mitigations – such as staff and pupils wearing face coverings in secondary schools – should continue to avoid such a situation arising.
The Scottish Government has said the face mask requirement will be in place for ‘at least six weeks’ of the new term, but Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has also said the rule will be dropped earlier if it can be.
But Mr Searson suggested mitigations may have to stay ‘for a good deal longer’.
He also said ministers need to consider vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds against the virus, while schools should keep other measures in place such as staggered starting times.
On BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme on Friday, Highland Council education chairman John Finlayson said rising Covid cases are ‘having an impact on service delivery’.
Mr Finlayson said: ‘I think we will see remote learning, even at this time, where there are situations where schools are struggling for staff, where
‘Struggling for staff’ ‘Children will be sent home’
there’s a high number of pupils at home.’
Asked on the same show if there is a risk of teacher shortages, Mr Searson said: ‘Most definitely. Teachers are going to contract Covid and they therefore will be missing.’
Miss Somerville said: ‘The recently revised approach to self-isolation policy for close contacts aged under 18 means that fewer young people will have to self-isolate.’
She said mitigations take account of ‘the need for local flexibility’ while aiming for ‘a consistent and equitable approach across Scotland’.