Councillors in East Kilbride have had their say on the decision to close schools until AT LEAST February.
It comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a third lockdown as the new strain of COVID-19 threatens to run amok and overwhelm our NHS.
SNP Councillor and depute provost, Collette Stevenson, said she “wholeheartedly” agreed with the move, that she said must have been a “very tough, but right decision” in light of the rising number of virus cases.
She added: “We are in a different place from last March and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“There are vaccines and we should see a better situation arising, but not quite yet. The key priorities is to ensure we protect our NHS staff.
“Key priorities lie with getting children safely back to school and this priority should lie with our most vulnerable children.”
Councillor Joe Fagan, leader of South Lanarkshire Labour, said taking decisive action “now” will help restore services properly when restrictions ease and will “protect the NHS at a critical time”.
He added: “Teaching unions had been expressing increasing concern about the arrangements in schools before the new strain had been identified, so it’s no surprise such action is now having to be taken.
“Labour councillors will insist that every support is given to the lockdown generation, the young people whose education will be affected by the pandemic, to help them through a period of closures and blended learning.
“We also have to ensure there is support for the families of the key workers we are depending on right now.”
Councillor Fiona Dryburgh, business manager for the Liberal Democrat Group, said it was “too risky” to see schools re-opened for all pupils.
She called on the Scottish Government to provide “more support for parents who may now struggle with home learning, children with additional support needs, and perhaps juggling working from home.”
And the move was supported by Councillor Margaret Cooper, leader of the Independent Group in South Lanarkshire, who pointed to the prevalence of secondary pupils gathering in large groups “often not wearing a face mask,” outside of school.
However, Tory councillor Ian Harrow believes closing all schools is the wrong decision.
He said: “This is going to damage the education of this cohort of pupils again as well as preventing parents from going back to work, which will further adversely affect the economy.
“Those in lower income families will be most adversely affected by “remote” learning as they may not have a laptop for each child, causing them to fall behind.”
