(Press release issued 17 February 2022)
Campaign group Stand By Me Scotland has expressed its deep dismay and frustration at the level of Covid restrictions that will remain in Scotland’s schools after 28 February, and has vowed not to rest until school life has returned to full normality.
Earlier this month, the group launched a Crowdfunder, which has raised almost £3,500 towards the costs of a legal challenge on masks in schools. The group intends to keep raising funds to safeguard against any potential U-turn by the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government’s updated Covid guidance on reducing the risks in schools, published today, removes the requirement for secondary pupils to wear face masks while seated in class, and allows the return of assemblies. However, a host of restrictions remain which, the group says, still place disproportionate and unfair curbs on school life.
These include face masks while moving around in corridors, as well as a ban on in-school events that involve parents and carers, like parents’ evenings, curriculum evenings, prizegivings, shows, performances and fundraisers. The guidance only makes provision for “essential” individual parental visits to discuss "wellbeing, progress and behaviour of children".
Ruth Harley, co-organiser of Stand by Me Scotland, who is also a teacher said:
"We want to see schools return to normal - as in pre-pandemic normal - with no face masks in communal areas, and no disproportionate restrictions on activities and events that are not seen in the rest of society. Though the relaxation of rules is welcome, we will not stop campaigning until complete normality returns for our children. There are still more restrictions on the lives of our children in comparison not only to their counterparts in England, but also to adults in Scotland."
Member Ida Maspero added:
“As a parent, the retention of the ban on in-school meetings, events and gatherings involving parents and carers is really frustrating and seems bizarre, given that performance venues are full and large indoor events are now happening as normal. Parents and carers continue to be alienated and locked out of school life. Schools are the heart of their communities, and that sense of community is being corroded.”
The updated guidance also sees the retention of face masks for primary school teachers where a distance cannot be kept.
Member Lorraine Fyfe, a parent whose primary-aged daughter has a hearing impairment, said:
“Although the relaxation of masks is welcomed, for many pupils nothing has changed. Primary-aged children with hearing difficulties are still experiencing teachers and teaching assistants wearing masks in classrooms if they cannot maintain a safe distance. But more problematic is that the adults continue to need to wear masks in communal areas. This causes huge problems for younger children in areas such as lunch halls where it is already much noisier. It makes hearing the adults who are there to offer assistance so much more difficult.”
For many children with anxiety, school will remain distressing, said member Joanna Hill:
"My eldest has autism and finds seeing others wearing facemasks very distressing, so he is studying for Highers in school with no face-to-face teacher time. Our school has done their best… facemasks and covid information in corridors was also distressing, so they took down the signs on his usual routes. But they couldn't remove the facemasks from the corridors and communal areas, and they still can't, because our government has only said classes so far."
