Deputy first minister John Swinney has responded to concerns over teachers and other education staff in Scotland being exempted from Covid self-isolation rules.
A letter sent to education directors yesterday (Tuesday 14 December) by the Scottish government and local authorities body COSLA says that, in “certain limited circumstances”, staff at “businesses and organisations providing vital public services” can “volunteer to not self-isolate”, Henry Hepburn reports.
Mr Swinney was asked about this approach on BBC Radio Scotland this morning (Wednesday 15 December), and said: “Obviously, what we’re trying to do is to strike a pragmatic balance about maintaining education.
“We recognise the significant impact that the virus has had on the delivery of education within Scotland. The education secretary [Shirley-Anne Somerville] made a statement to Parliament about the recent Curriculum for Excellence levels data and the impact of the virus on the attainment of young people.”
Mr Swinney, who was education secretary until earlier this year, added: “So we want to try to maintain education as much as we possibly can do, but schools and local authorities will be able to apply the guidance with sensitivity and with pragmatism to address local circumstances as cases take their course.”
James McEnaney, an education journalist and commentator, wrote in a tweet about exemptions to self-isolation for school staff: “This is absolutely wild. Household contacts must self-isolate regardless of PCR result but contact in a crowded classroom doesn’t count.”
Scottish schools will not close early for Christmas despite a predicted “tsunami” of cases of the Omicron Covid variant, first minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed yesterday (Tuesday 14 December).
