JOHN Swinney is being urged by SNP backbenchers to put pressure on councils to turn empty buildings into classrooms to allow pupils to go back to school full time.
The Deputy First Minister and Education Secretary, who is to make an emergency statement on the schools' situation in Holyrood tomorrow, has been put under pressure from within his own party to take further action.
Last week former Scottish Health Secretary Alex Neil said existing proposals for a 'blended learning" which would see pupils spend part of the week in class and also work from home were "absolutely unacceptable" and "not good-quality education".
He added: "It's not blending education, it's bleeding education."
Neil today renewed his concerns. He wrote on Twitter: "Local councils need to take a leaf out of the NHS’s book and requisition facilities and recruit additional staff if needed. Obviously, additional funding from the Scottish Government will be required to achieve this.
He added: "Educationalists are doing a fantastic job teaching our children remotely and I commend the work they’re doing. However, local authorities need to apply a bit of imagination to get kids back to full-time education."
Another senior SNP insider pointed to the decision to convert the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow to the temporary NHS Louisa Jordan at the outset of the pandemic and said a similar initiative to create extra capacity should be considered for schools.
"We planned a hospital that we didn't need, thank goodness. With education we have seven weeks to go and I think we will have to have a review. We have a lot of community centres, churches, a lot of buildings lying empty. Councils should be more innovative and proactive," the source said.
"We are a listening government and I think we will have to have plans in place. My fear is that Jackson Carlaw is going to hit us with this on Wednesday at First Minister's Questions."
Nicola Sturgeon confirmed at the daily briefing today that Swinney would address MSPs tomorrow about plans for ‘blended learning’ or part time in school learning when children return to the classroom in August.
"The deputy First Minister will make a statement subject to the agreement of the business bureau tomorrow on our next steps on schools. As we have made clear we want to get children back to education on a full time normal basis as quickly as possible," she said.
The First Minister suggested details would be set out including over any "catch up process" for pupils, underlining it was important that full time education would restart for pupils' both in terms of their learning, their ability to interact with friends and for their mental health.
She added: "The return to full time normal education has to be safe. It also has to take account of the considerations to protect children's physical health..and also of their parents and families. Turning that ambition into reality is the hard work of being a government. The deputy First Minister will say more about that tomorrow."
Schools in Scotland closed to all pupils in March though some children of key workers have been able to attend education hubs during the lockdown.
Councils have been drawing up plans on a programme to reopen schools in August with children returning part time to class and working on lessons at home for the rest of the week. Swinney last week said it could take a year for schools to return to normality.
The 2m social distancing rule in place to prevent the spread of Covid 19 means that a classroom may only be able to accommodate 10 to 15 pupils.
However there have been calls to reduce the rule to 1m - a move which would allow to more pupils to attend school for longer.
Former council education director Keir Bloomer has said: 'From an educational perspective, the key point is that any given space can accommodate four times as many people with one-metre distancing as with two. This would allow most classrooms to accommodate a normal-sized class. The educational advantage is, therefore, really substantial.'
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