Scotland’s primary pupils to return to schools within a fortnight as Nicola Sturgeon suggests speeding up the easing of lockdown

All Scotland's primary pupils are to return to classrooms within a fortnight as Nicola Sturgeon announced plans to speed up the easing of lockdown following a sharp decline in Covid hospitalisations.

During last week’s lockdown update, the First Minister said that all primary students would return if data supported it and on Tuesday confirmed that all children in primary 4 to 7 will go back full-time from March 15 as planned.

Secondary pupils will also return to school part-time from March 15, Ms Sturgeon confirmed, after it had previously been announced that those in S1 to S3 would not return until after the Easter holidays in April.

Briefing MSPs on the Scottish Government’s latest lockdown plans, Ms Sturgeon said it was now her "intention that all secondary school pupils will return to spend some time in school from March 15 until the Easter break" with full-time in-school learning after the holidays.

Years 4 to 6 will have priority, she said, but the Government expects that “all children in secondary school will receive some in-school education each week”.

"This will allow pupils to get used to being back in school and allow them to start seeing friends again. This is important for wellbeing as well as for education," she said.

Ms Sturgeon said that the safety of staff and pupils was a “key priority”, and that the two-metre social distancing rule would continue in secondary schools until Easter.

Face coverings will need to be worn at all times, she added, and lateral flow tests will continue to be offered twice a week to all school staff and S4 to S6 pupils.

However, opposition parties and unions have raised concerns about the preparedness of schools to welcome more students back.

"While today marks a gradual speeding up for a return to schools, the First Minister’s latest announcement was also typically vague and only prolongs uncertainty,” said Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader at Holyrood.

“No one wants to risk an increase in cases by moving too quickly but pupils deserve better than guesswork based on the SNP’s drip feeding of partial information."

Scotland’s largest teaching union has also warned that the decision to accelerate pupils returning to schools could risk the progress made during lockdown.

“While teachers are obviously eager to see young people returning to classrooms, they are also very clear that this must be done safely. We are only one full week into the return of P1-3 and the impact of that needs to be assessed before final decisions are taken on next steps,” said Flanagan, General Secretary of EIS.

“The First Minister has said the Government will be driven by data not dates but today’s announcement seems to be quite the opposite of that. An overhasty return of all pupils to the classroom setting could put at risk the progress that has been made in reducing rates of Covid infection during the lockdown period.”

Mr Flanagan added that the planned full return of students after Easter “would suggest that physical distancing requirements currently in place” for senior students may be removed “despite scientific evidence of the need for this mitigation”, and described it as a “reckless approach”.

Ms Sturgeon also told MSPs that in light of positive trends in coronavirus figures, the Scottish Government will consider in the next week if other planned easing of restrictions can be accelerated.

Data now strongly suggests that case numbers are declining to the lowest level since the first week of October last year, she said, adding that the average test positivity rate has fallen below 5 per cent and that hospital admissions are also falling.

"When I update Parliament next week, I hope to be able to confirm some changes to Scotland's level 4 restrictions," she said.

“We will be considering if it might be possible to accelerate the exit from lockdown in any way, consistent, of course, with the care and caution we know is necessary."

She added: "I have always said if we can go further and faster, then we will not hesitate to do so.

"All of us want to move on as quickly as possible and, as a priority, to see friends and family again. I hope that day is now not too far away.”