A survey of secondary teachers has revealed their safety concerns as pupils start returning to school today, nearly five months after lockdown began.
More than two-fifths of teachers in the poll by the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) did not yet feel confident that their employer had made their schools safe.
Many teachers were also concerned about vagueness over policy for dealing with students who break schools rules over Covid-19 health and safety.
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SSTA general secretary Seamus Searson said: “The survey showed the high lack of teacher confidence in schools and their employers to ensure their safety upon the reopening of schools.”
The survey received 2,615 responses and, Mr Searson said, “highlighted the high number of teachers who were unaware of fundamental safety measures to be put in place in their workplaces”, including risk assessments, physical distancing and cleaning regimes.
Local authorities across Scotland are taking different approaches to reopening. Pupils in the Scottish Borders, for example, are returning today, as are some in Shetland on a phased basis. Elsewhere, pupils will return later in the week, with many councils operating a phased return before the 18 August deadline for all pupils to be back full-time.
Fears have been raised about how prepared teachers are to deal with mitigating the spread of the virus.
At the government’s coronavirus briefing on Monday, first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I know that there will be nerves and anxiety for children, parents and teachers this week - and I think that is entirely understandable.
“Fundamentally, all of us know that the reopening of schools is essential for children’s education, personal development and indeed I think for their general wellbeing and happiness.
“So what we are doing is trying to ensure that the reopening is safe and effective.”
EIS union general secretary Larry Flanagan said that around 80 per cent of members had expressed “deep concerns” about safety over the re-opening of schools.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme today: “One of the areas that is of particular concern is around the absence of physical distancing amongst young students, and that’s one of the areas where they think face coverings could be a mitigation that would make everyone safer in the school environment.
“Discussions are ongoing with the Scottish government around improvements that could be made to the current safeguards which should be in place to try and make sure that schools are Covid secure.”
