Sturgeon urged to spell out ‘murky’ back-to-class plan

Calls for schools on the Orkney Islands to use their own tailored model

THE Scottish Government was facing fresh pressure last night over its plans to get children back in the classroom.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced local authorities could be encouraged to commandeer public buildings to increase face-to-face teaching time and said the idea of shrinking the distance between pupils was also under consideration.

It comes as she tried to assure parents and teaching experts that the controversial “blended learning” model – a mix of home and school teaching – was only a contingency plan.

But Cosla’s children and young people representative Stephen McCabe yesterday told MSPs it would be “impossible” to return to full capacity under current social distancing rules – prompting opposition politicians to accuse Ms Sturgeon of trying to “deceive parents”.

It also fuelled calls for the government to allow Orkney Islands

Council to adopt a tailored approach, with leader James Stockan demanding a meeting with Education Secretary John Swinney.

He believes the blended model would be “impossible” to manage in the community due to a lack of available buildings and poor digital connectivity.

The Scottish Government has come under fresh pressure over its “shambolic” plans to get children back to school.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday said councils might be encouraged to commandeer public buildings to increase face-to-face teaching time, and shorter distances between pupils was being considered.

The first minister said providing more space for schooling by having councils look again at their resources, assets and buildings was one of the “important strands of work” going on to get children back in the classroom as soon as possible.

Officials are also looking at alternative classroom set-ups, such as keeping teachers two metres from pupils while cutting the space between children to one metre.

The announcements came soon after education experts gave evidence to MSPs, with one suggesting that despite claims the controversial “blended learning” method is a contingency plan, it is the “only plan” for reopening schools in August under current guidance.

Former SNP health secretary Alex Neil called the model – which would see children study part-time at home and school – “absolutely unacceptable” and “not good-equality education”.

Ms Sturgeon recently softened her stance on use of the method when schools reopen on August 11, stating it will be used only as a “contingency”.

But Cosla’s children and young people spokesman Stephen McCabe told Holyrood’s education committee it would be “impossible” to return to full capacity under current social distancing rules.

“I simply don’t think it’s realistic if we maintain a two-metre social distance to get anywhere near 100% – and it’s not just about money,” he said.

“What we are engaged in at this point in time, within the constraints of two-metre social distancing is to try to see if we can, at the margins, increase the amount of face-to-face learning. Simply going to 100% based on two-metre distancing, I think is impossible.”

Mr Neil questioned why councils could not “take a leaf out of the NHS’s book” after the health service took on more staff and saw an emergency facility set up in Glasgow in case extra capacity was needed.

He said: “What they did was they requisitioned the buildings they needed, they recruited the additional staff they needed.”

At the daily coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon said the government is considering evidence on the safety of reducing distancing in schools.

Asked about the potential for relaxing the two-metre rule, she said ministers are looking at options “that don’t involve the same degree of social distancing”.

“I want to see if we can get that different model that I think will make it easier to get children back to school full-time as normal; but we’ve got to work through these things in order to satisfy ourselves that is safe,” Ms Sturgeon said.

The education committee also heard from Carrie Lindsay, president of the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland, who insisted schools will need significant time to adapt their plans if the coronavirus guidance changes.

She said: “It takes quite a long time to develop a plan like this. It’s not something you can change quickly, so there does need to be a space for us to make those changes.”

This week Ms Sturgeon took over control of the agenda from Education Secretary John Swinney, following outrage over his statements that schools were “unlikely” to return to normal this academic year and exams might not go ahead.

Scottish Labour education spokesman Iain Gray accused the first minister of “clearly trying to deceive parents” by saying that blended learning is only a contingency.

He said: “In the course of this week, the education secretary has said blended learning might last for a year, while the first minister called it a contingency.

“Mr McCabe has made it clear; blended learning is not a contingency plan, it is the only plan for August.

“He also told the committee of a loss of morale among teachers and councils preparing for blended learning, only to hear it called a contingency.

“The first minister is clearly trying to deceive parents by pretending these plans are only a contingency.

“The Scottish Government has turned a return to schools into a shambles, and it is not good enough.”

Scottish Conservative shadow education spokesman Jamie Greene welcomed Mr Neil’s suggestion that blended education was more like “bleeding education”.

He said the comments were a “serious intervention from a former SNP cabinet secretary, who is now saying publicly what many SNP MSPs are thinking privately”.

Mr Greene added: “Current plans for part-time learning are unworkable and potentially a disaster for children.

“At least Alex Neil has the guts to tell Nicola Sturgeon and his front bench ministers some difficult truths about their lack of ambition and incompetence, adding his name to a growing list of SNP advisers and politicians expressing anger at this shambolic handling of schools.”

“Current plans for part-time learning are unworkable”