Scots parents are calling on Nicola Sturgeon 's Government to end mandatory wearing of masks in schools.
The UK Government announced that as of Monday, May 17, children in secondary schools across England will no longer be required to wear masks during lessons or in communal areas.
However no such announcement has yet been made by the Scottish Government.
Now parent campaigners from UsForThemScotland says the Scottish Government has 'no excuse' for keeping masks mandatory for children and young people.
Jo Bisset, organiser for UsForThem Scotland, said: "There’s no excuse for the Scottish Government not to match this commitment, at the very least.
"School children are having to wear masks for longer each day than almost every adult profession.
"It’s completely unacceptable, making their last few weeks in school an abnormal experience, and harming the most vulnerable youngsters.
"Children have been treated abysmally by politicians over the last year who have collectively failed to stand up for them.
"It’s time to make amends, and removing the mask mandate in classrooms would be a good place to start."
Speaking at Tuesday's coronavirus briefing Nicola Sturgeon said: "“On face coverings, I’m not at this stage indicating any specific change to the guidance on wearing face coverings, but in relation to schools we will be asking the education sub-group that advises us on these issues within schools to look at this also over the next couple of weeks.
"So it may be that we are able to say something on face coverings in schools, but again I don’t want to pre-empt that work that we have asked our expert advisors to do.
“Obviously Moray is a reminder of how we need to be really careful about this because some of what we are experiencing now in Moray has had an impact on and has involved schools, and therefore that’s an important reminder that mitigations within schools continue to be important.
"But equally I know from the young people in my own life, as well as more generally, that young people don’t like wearing face masks while they’re in school all of the time.
"So if it is safe to move away from that we are keen to do it, but we’ve got to take the right advice on that and make sure we are reaching a decision that takes all of that into account.”
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