JACK McConnell has hit out at the Scottish Government, claiming John Swinney hadn't discussed when Scottish schools will reopen – but he got his facts wrong.
McConnell asked why the Education Secretary had not appeared at the Scottish Parliament's Education Committee.
The former first minister tweeted: "Just discovered that the @ScotParl Education Committee meets today to discuss school reopening with @COSLA & Directors of Education. No mention of the Education Secretary but maybe that is next week. Can they get the answers and commitments parents want? Or the reasons why not?"
Just discovered that the @ScotParl Education Committee meets today to discuss school reopening with @COSLA & Directors of Education. No mention of the Education Secretary but maybe that is next week. Can they get the answers and commitments parents want? Or the reasons why not?
— Jack McConnell (@LordMcConnell) June 19, 2020
But The SNP media, the party's fact-checking and rebuttal service Twitter account pointed out that Swinney was present at the committee last week and linked the full report of that meeting.
The account tweeted: "John Swinney appeared in front of the @ScotParl Education Committee last week. @LordMcConnell must have missed it, but he can read the official report here - http://parliament.scot"
John Swinney appeared in front of the @ScotParl Education Committee last week. @LordMcConnell must have missed it, but he can read the official report here - https://t.co/ufmVWXBCeM https://t.co/00ho8o6wpx
— The SNP Media (@theSNPMedia) June 19, 2020
In Scotland, schools will reopen on August 11, but with children having a mix of face-to-face teaching in classrooms and the rest of their learning done at home.
Asked on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme why it is safe for schools to reopen with one-metre distancing measures in Northern Ireland but not in Scotland, country's national clinical director, Professor Jason Leitch said: "It's not as binary as that.
"The Scottish Government has taken a view that what we will do is we will look again at that guidance and we will look at it of course in place in schools, in shops, in each of the sectors, and we will in time decide what we should do about that single intervention.
"It's important to layer that intervention on all the other things that are happening, the hand washing, the cough etiquette, the face coverings and everything else, it's taken on a little bit of an iconic status and I understand why.
"We're not in a position right now to adjust that distance and we will advise the First Minister what we think should happen in the next couple of weeks and then the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister in charge of education will make a judgment."
READ MORE: Jason Leitch explains why Scots schools can't reduce two-metre rule
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon suggested on Wednesday that schools may be able to open with "nearer normality" in August, depending on how successful efforts to suppress coronavirus have been.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has said to “watch this space” when asked whether social distancing restrictions could be reduced from two metres to one metre to help schools in England return in autumn.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson suggested that primary school class sizes of 15, known as “bubbles”, could be expanded back to their normal size to allow more children back in the classroom.
Speaking to broadcasters during a Hertfordshire school visit on Friday, Johnson said it was “absolutely” his aspiration that pupils of all ages will be back in the classroom for a full five days a week in September.
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