Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 March 2021
02 Mar 2021 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Covid-19
I point to what I said in my statement, because it has particular relevance to the legitimate question that is raised. I said that Education Scotland will issue guidance on the phased returns of secondary schools later this week, but we want local authorities to have a degree of flexibility in that guidance, in order for them to maximise the time that secondary school pupils spend in school between now and Easter.
In smaller authorities—island communities, for example—there might be a small number of pupils who go to a particular school. If all of them could go back full time while the 2m distancing continued to be respected, a local authority should have flexibility over that.
The position of the Government is that we want secondary school pupils to have as much time physically in school as it is possible to give them in the period between now and Easter, but that position has to be consistent with the safety measures that still require to be in place. In some parts of the country, that will involve a greater degree of in-person school education than would be the case in other parts.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
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The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon)
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Ruth Davidson (Edinburgh Central) (Con)
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The First Minister
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Anas Sarwar (Glasgow) (Lab)
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The First Minister
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Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)
Green
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The First Minister
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The First Minister
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The First Minister
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The First Minister
SNP
I point to what I said in my statement, because it has particular relevance to the legitimate question that is raised. I said that Education Scotland will is...
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The First Minister
SNP
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