Scotland’s biggest teaching union is challenging the changes to self-isolation rules introduced to coincide with the start of the new school year, arguing that it is now “practically impossible” for a child who has been in close contact with a positive case in school to be asked to stay at home until tested.
The rules on self-isolation changed this month in a bid to avoid entire groups of pupils - often whole classes - having their education disrupted because of the requirement to self-isolate when a positive case was identified in their “bubble”.
Now the emphasis is on giving “individualised messages about testing and self-isolation”.
However, the EIS union says that, as a result of the changes, even close contacts of positive cases - including those pupils seated next to a positive case in class - are not being asked to self-isolate until tested.
Also today: We want to avoid school closures ‘at all costs’ - Swinney
News: Keeping schools open is ‘top of the list’, says Sturgeon
Also this week: Covid-positive education secretary keeps working
Background: 85 per cent of Scotland’s teachers to be jabbed by next term
Related: New Covid strain threat makes school mitigations ‘essential’
England: ‘Anxiety and confusion’ over new Covid contacts plan
The union’s general secretary, Larry Flanagan, told Tes Scotland it was now “practically impossible” for a close contact in school to be required to self-isolate until tested, unless they had also, for example, stayed overnight at the child’s house.
Covid and schools: Concerns about fewer pupils being asked to self-isolate
He said: “The EIS has challenged both the Scottish government and Public Health Scotland on the new operation around close contact tracing.
“In our view, identified close contacts should be asked to get a PCR test before being allowed to stay in class, as we understood the guidance to be saying.
“It now appears that pupils will be treated differently as there is a perceived lower risk to their health - this is likely to lead to infections spreading and greater risk being created for both pupils and staff, and potentially for families.
“Testing has to be central to the new self-isolation rules.”
The government guidance says that the focus for contact tracing in schools is now on identifying “any individual contacts with very close contact and high risk of transmission” with a view to giving them “individualised messages about testing and self-isolation”.
The guidance states that there is now a particular focus on household contacts, for example, siblings or social settings involving prolonged contact, including sleepovers.
It says that “simply being seated next to a positive case in class will not necessarily result in a requirement to self-isolate and take a PCR test”.
Examples of school contacts that might be asked to self-isolate and take a test, according to the guidance, are “children who have slept in shared accommodation during school trips, or staff who have provided close personal care to children/pupils with additional support needs”.
The guidance says “the definition of close contacts remains the same” but what has changed for under-18s is “the threshold for intervention”.
A secondary headteacher with concerns about the changes told Tes Scotland that they had been left “feeling powerless”.
The head - who wished to remain anonymous - said they had 30 positive cases in school throughout the whole of the pandemic and that undertaking contact tracing had been hard “but it was effective”. Already this year there had been 15 positive cases and they cannot take action.
The headteacher continued: “In the first few days of term I’ve had 15 positive pupils and I am left feeling powerless. I cannot undertake track, trace, isolate as this is now in the sole hands of Test and Protect, who have told parents that they are not interested in identifying close contacts within schools.
“This is going to rip through schools with vulnerable pupils and staff forgotten by the government again.”
Greg Dempster, the general secretary of primary school leaders’ association AHDS, said that he had been contacted by school leaders concerned about the changes to self-isolation.
He said the change had been made on the basis of advice from Scottish government experts, given the evidence showed that many of the pupils asked to self-isolate and book a test did not go on to catch Covid - and also because a large proportion of the adult population is now double vaccinated.
However, Mr Dempster added: “That doesn’t make it any easier for school leaders or staff who know there are cases in their school community and that previously all the kids around about these cases would be self-isolating and getting a test, and now that’s no longer happening. I have relayed these concerns to colleagues in government.”
Responding to the concerns, education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, who tested positive for Covid-19 at the weekend, said that revised guidance had been implemented for under-18s and that a more “targeted approach” was being taken that “only identifies children and young people who are higher risk close contacts, so that they can be asked to self-isolate until a negative PCR test is received”.
She added: “Other potential lower-risk contacts in the school environment should be provided with a ‘warn and inform’ letter, setting out advice on regular testing and other important precautions.
“This means that fewer young people will have to self-isolate, and most will be asked to self-isolate for a much shorter period of time.
“Our revised approach reflects the significant changes in the public health impact of Covid-19 achieved through our successful vaccination programme. It is also informed by evidence about the risks of infection and transmission amongst children, young people and staff in schools, set against the educational harms that result from large numbers of children and young people self-isolating.
“To allow time to monitor the impacts of these changes, the majority of the mitigations that were in place in schools in the previous term will be retained for up to six weeks.”
