Questions have been raised on how many pupils and staff are using lateral flow tests in West Lothian Schools.
The EIS, which has called for West Lothian Council to reiterate the importance of taking the tests - and recording the results.
Local EIS secretary, and president-elect of the union, Heather Hughes asked a meeting of the Education Executive for a breakdown on test numbers in the county’s schools.
She said: “What we believe is happening this that staff are doing the test but not recording them. Our issue with a number young people is that they not doing the test. They take the tests away but don’t do them.”
She asked: “What are we doing to try and encourage the young people in West Lothian to take the tests, and to keep reiterating the importance of this?”
Education officer, Andrew Sneddon, said that it was hard to identify numbers getting tested because the results were only recorded on a Scottish Government website, with no localised breakdown of figures.
He added that there was a disconnect in the system in that collecting a test from school was not a guarantee that the test would actually be taken, and that disconnect followed through to the non-recording of the test results.
Head of education, James Cameron, said that one of the issues was that staff and pupils were taking tests but often not recording the results on the government website.
This was especially true when tests results were negative, i.e. those who didn’t have Covid-19 were not entering results.
Figures are only displayed as nationwide, not broken down into local authority levels. Also the testing is entirely voluntary.
Mr Cameron said: “People record positives and not negatives. They should record negatives as well.”
He added that the council’s communications team had developed “significant” social media messaging around asymptomatic testing, not only in schools but in the wider community.
“We can certainly redouble our efforts to encourage head teachers to speak to parents and to encourage young people to take the tests,” Mr Cameron told the meeting.
Ms Hughes said that would be “really helpful” adding: “We have to keep getting that message across, especially in light of the spread of the Indian variant."
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