FM must bring forward school holidays say Scottish Greens

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP has called on the Scottish Government to put in place measures to ensure that teachers aren’t forced to undertake contact tracing work on Christmas eve and Christmas day.

Teachers and support staff currently perform contact tracing in schools, and Mr Harvie called on the Scottish Government to follow the example of the government in England, where the start of the holidays has been brought forward to allow for this work to be completed ahead of Christmas.

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

“School staff have been repeatedly let down during this crisis. Bringing forward the school holidays uniformly to Friday 18th December would ensure that no staff member would be required to undertake contact tracing on Christmas eve or Christmas day.

“The Scottish Government has so far refused to offer teachers this comfort. But in light of the announcement today that the UK Government will implement this policy in England, I urge the First Minister to reconsider this reasonable ask and give teachers and school staff this well deserved break.”