The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the county’s largest
union for teachers and lecturers, has said that today’s Scottish
Government announcement not to support remote learning in the
week before Christmas, will disappoint and anger many teachers.
Commenting on the decision, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan
said, “Many teachers across Scotland will be disappointed and
angered at the Scottish Government decision today, which once
again shows a complete disregard for the concerns and welfare of
teachers. The EIS had asked that schools move to remote learning
in the final week to ensure that senior staff did not find
themselves having to work during the Christmas break to deal with
any COVID outbreaks and also to minimise the risk for staff,
pupils and parents of infections ruining the Christmas break.
Allowing this would have helped protect staff, students and their
families during the festive season and reduce the risk of pupils
or teachers being required to self-isolate over Christmas – while
also ensuring that education provision continued via remote
learning.”
He added, “It would appear that this yet another political
decision by the Scottish Government, which may thank teachers but
is unwilling to listen to them. The EIS would call upon the
Scottish Government to make lateral flow tests available to
school staff, so that those hoping to share some time with
potentially vulnerable family members can do so without fear of
putting loved ones at risk.”
