The number of teachers in Scotland unable to work as a result of Covid - either because they are suffering from the virus or are isolating - has grown by over 25 per cent in one week.
New Scottish government figures published this afternoon (Thursday 16 December) show that 2,048 teachers were suffering from Covid-19 on Tuesday 14 December, or were absent because of the virus - for instance, because they were isolating or looking after a relative. The figure on Tuesday of last week (7 December) was 1,500.
The total number of school staff who were absent because of the pandemic also hit its highest level this week since the October holidays. In total 3,291 staff, including teachers, were off on Tuesday - up from 2,429 the previous week.
The news follows government advice on the rules around self-isolation which mean that teachers in Scotland can in theory “volunteer” not to self-isolate, although it appears that not every local authority will expect any teachers to do this. Justifying the move, deputy first minister John Swinney said the government was trying “to maintain education”.
Meanwhile, in England, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has written to headteachers saying the Department for Education is looking to help ex-teachers to register with supply agencies in a bid to boost the number of temporary staff available.
The statistics also show that the number of pupils who were absent on Tuesday because of the virus has risen to over 30,000 (31,303) - an increase of 40 per cent on the previous week, when 18,513 pupils were off.
A total of 22,416 were self-isolating on Tuesday; 5,132 had Covid and 3,755 were not in school because their parents had kept them off.
The attendance rate was 85.6 per cent but had dropped below 80 per cent in one council area - in East Ayrshire the attendance rate was 78.5 per cent.
