West Lothian College have recorded under 50 Covid-19 infections among over 7000 students and staff.
The Courier can reveal that since the college began recording positive cases in September 2020, just 27 students and eight members of staff have tested positive for the contagion.
However, none of these infections were contracted on campus.
The college has nearly 7000 enrolled students and 350 employees and they track infections weekly.
A combination of remote learning and safety precautions helped them to keep infections low.
The principal at West Lothian College Jackie Galbraith said: “Our efforts in mitigating the impact of Covid-19 over the past six months have been on on making our campus safe for staff and students, ensuring that lecturers have the resources and training to deliver blended learning, working with the council to manage the hundreds of school pupils who take part in college courses.
“Since September, we have provided around 450 laptops to students to enable them to take part in remote learning and all lecturers got new laptops so that they could deliver effectively online with reliable technology.”
Health and safety measures adopted at the college during the pandemic include: signage advising of distancing rules, marking maximum capacity of rooms and reminding people to wash and sanitise hands often, one-way systems in corridors, masks being worn at all times, sanitising stations in all classrooms, gazebos added in the courtyard to enable more outdoor learning and dividers and screens put in place in offices.
Jackie continued: “There has been a tremendous effort from all staff across the college.
“We continue to work hard to support our students and staff through the pandemic and a priority has been on mental health and wellbeing.
“We meet weekly with key managers and the student president, and have fortnightly meetings with trade union representatives to ensure we understand any concerns and take action to address these.
“Staff and students have reported confidence in the support being provided by the college in these challenging times.”
