SCOTLAND’S teachers are calling for a return to blended learning for pupils in level 4 areas. 

That would mean kids spending half their time at home, and half their time at school, with distance learning in place. 

In Holyrood on Tuesday, Nicola Sturgeon placed 11 local authorities into the toughest level of restrictions under the Scottish Government’s coronavirus framework.

That means all pubs, restaurants, gyms and non-essential shops will have to close.

READ MORE: Scotland levels update: Nicola Sturgeon confirms 11 areas will move to level 4

However, in a statement to MSPs, the First Minister said keeping schools open was a priority. 

She told MSPs: “I am aware that some people will argue that schools should also be closed at level 4.

“However our very clear view is that the harm done to young peope by closing schools significantly outweighs any impact that schools have on transmission.

“Keeping schools open is therefore a priority.

“However, we will keep the guidance for schools – and how it is being implemented - under close review.”

She revealed the Government would be publishing a new evidence paper on school safety tomorrow. 

Larry Flanagan from the EIS said schools in these areas should be allowed to implement blended or remote learning contingency measures. He said the Government’s own figures showed week-on-week increases in both the number of pupils and teachers infected with Covid-19.

On November 10, 29,486 pupils and 2615 staff were absent from Scottish schools for Covid-19 related reasons, with absence rates affecting areas with higher levels of deprivation more.

Flanagan said: “The move to level 4 restrictions is designed to get the spread of Covid under control in these areas. It will also, inevitably, increase the anxiety felt by many teachers over the level risk to their health, their pupils’ health and the health of their families and the wider community. 

“The EIS is clear that, in areas that are now at level 4, the current policy of keeping schools operating as normal on a full-time basis is at odds with delivering effective virus suppression. 

“It is not only about the safety of schools themselves, it’s about the role of schools in terms of local community transmission. It’s difficult to imagine somewhere with more social mixing than schools and pupils and staff then go back into their communities and their homes and families.”

Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said moving to blended learning would “reduce the risks, not only to pupils and school staff, but would also support the fight to reduce virus levels in the wider community.”

He added: “This in turn would help to reduce the levels of disruption and uncertainty currently being experienced by pupils and staff as a result of them having to self-isolate because of positive cases in their schools and colleges.”

The National:

Jane Peckham, the NASUWT Scotland’s official said the union also had concerns over vulnerable teachers still being expected to head to schools. 

She said: “The First Minister has said that pupils who are extremely clinically vulnerable should not attend school, but only that adults in level 4 areas who are clinically extremely vulnerable will receive further advice and will not automatically be exempted from attending their workplace. Given the risks, the NASUWT believes that all clinically vulnerable teachers in level 4 areas should be advised to work from home.

“Serious concerns also remain about the risks to other groups of teachers working in level 4 areas who are vulnerable to Covid-19 transmission, including those who are pregnant, those who have other underlying health conditions or disabilities or who are from higher risk groups such as BAME teachers.

“Ministers now need to go further and issue more robust measures to protect all staff, including those who fall into these higher risk categories and who should also be receiving additional protection.”

Scottish Greens education spokesperson, Ross Greer, is to table a motion in Holyrood tomorrow calling for the Scottish Government to “work with local authorities to ensure that any vulnerable school staff member who is medically unable to attend school in person without being placed at unacceptable risk is better supported to either work from home or in a safer alternative setting, or if this is not possible, to potentially be placed on leave without loss of income”.

The motion also “expresses disappointment in government efforts to adequately prepare resource levels for Covid related staff absences” and calls for 2000 full time teachers to be recruited to ensure “safe staffing levels” can be maintained.

Greer said: “For many teachers, support staff and their families, the return to full-time schooling has been extremely stressful, particularly since the second wave of the virus began. The very least our school staff deserve is to feel safe at work. Instead, they are being made to feel expendable.

"Teachers with serious health conditions are being bullied into classrooms despite advice from their GP, social distancing is clearly impossible and staff absences are bringing some schools close to the point of having to close.

“No one wants to disrupt the education of our young people more than it already has been, but this isn’t a choice between education and safety. If we don’t take these steps, like recruiting additional staff and making testing more widely available, greater disruption and even school closures will be inevitable.”