The union which represents teaching staff in West Dunbartonshire has labelled plans to return to the classroom ‘an unacceptable experiment’.
Jim Halfpenny of the EIS made the comments, as he hit out at West Dunbartonshire Council for only installing carbon dioxide monitors - which help to identify areas with poor ventilation - in five of its 40 schools.
Last week First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed that the blanket isolation of full school classes will no longer be routine, with close contacts instead isolating until they receive the results of a PCR test.
Ahead of the return to the classroom later this month, most other mitigations will remain in place for at least the next six weeks. These involve the one metre social distancing requirement between staff and pupils and the mandatory use of face coverings for everyone in schools over the age of 12.
Pupils and staff have also been urged to get tested twice a week.
However Jim is concerned about school communities being used as guinea pigs.
He said: “While local councils across the country continue to deliberate on when it will be safe enough to reopen their offices to their employees and the public they continue to expect up to 35 pupils and school staff to work happily in a classroom.
“It is not acceptable that children and staff continue to be used as some kind of experiment for the rest of society.
“The latest scientific advice identifies that ventilation is an important factor in mitigating against the risk of aerosol transmission.
“There is, therefore, a need for an appropriate supply of fresh air to assist with minimising the risk of virus infection.
“The Scottish Government’s acknowledgement of the importance of strengthening the guidance around ventilation and the additional funding to close any gaps in this provision is a significant improvement to the current mitigations.
“After a request from the EIS for every school in West Dunbartonshire to have a CO2 monitor, which can help identify areas with poor ventilation, the council has purchased five monitors.
“How effective this will be, considering there are 40 schools, remains to be seen.”
A spokesperson for West Dunbartonshire Council said: “The Council has already purchased five mobile Co2 monitors to check the air quality within schools and ELCCs and the data collected will be monitored and recorded to reduce the transition of Covid.
“We welcome the announcement by the Scottish Government of further funding to support more mobile or fixed monitors within our education establishments.
Jim added that he would like to see quick and decisive action taken to isolate those testing positive, with 78 positive cases in schools and ELCs and 1409 individuals self-isolating in the final two weeks of the summer term.
He has also called for more young people to be offered the vaccine, in bid to make schools safer.
Jim continued: “The EIS believes that voluntary vaccination of 12-17-year-olds would be sensible and may go some way towards making schools safer places and help to address the anxieties of many young people.”
