A STUDENT at the University of Edinburgh has made an official complaint after being told she must attend tutorials in person – even though she has Type 1 diabetes and is more at risk of experiencing complications from catching the Covid-19 virus.
The 26-year-old told the Sunday National she does not feel safe in the classrooms, which she claims are poorly ventilated with up to 15 students crammed into a small space.
Additionally, she said university bosses were not taking her concerns seriously, and the health and safety website has now discontinued its Covid-19 contact centre hotline and mailbox.
The first year sociology student has been taking extra care to stay safe while case numbers remain high, but said she was shocked when she was told in-person tutorials are now mandatory, even though her lectures are still online.
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“I still don’t go indoors anywhere but home, and I don’t feel like it is safe at university at all,” she said. “There has already been some positive cases in the classes I have and we are in small classrooms which are poorly ventilated spaces.
“It is discrimination, because I am at higher risk of complications from Covid and I am entitled to have reasonable adjustment. Other universities are offering the choice of online tutorials, so I don’t see why Edinburgh can’t.
“They say they are following Scottish Government guidance, but workplaces and institutions have a duty to go beyond the guidance if they need to. It is part of our culture to assess risk, but for some reason they are abandoning this, and to me that is breaking health and safety regulations.”
The student has already missed “a lot” of classes, even though they are compulsory, because she doesn’t feel safe.
“The staff and lecturers say they would love to be able to offer me an online alternative, but they’ve been told they have to offer part of their course in person no matter what,” she said. “They’ve told me they won’t penalise me if I don’t turn up, but that is not the point. I am being put at a disadvantage because of my diabetes.”
She said she was even more concerned by the easing of Covid restrictions and the possibility that free testing may be removed.
“The only thing keeping me going at the moment is that I know everyone has done a test before going in,” she said. “If that stops it is because of Westminster neoliberal ideology.”
A spokesperson for lecturers’ union, the UCU, said universities should continue with protections as they are “potential breeding grounds” for the virus. At least one university campus has suffered a “significant” Covid outbreak recently, with hundreds of students self-isolating as a result, she said.
“We still have a high prevalence of coronavirus and the threat from new variants is still there,” said Mary Senior, Scotland official at UCU.
“Our university campuses need to be as safe as possible, especially given that universities are unique in that they draw students and staff from across the UK and beyond together – making them potential breeding grounds for the virus.
“UCU is clear that universities should continue with protections, including face coverings indoors, enhanced ventilation and physical distancing, to keep all students and staff safe.
“This is vital to ensure we can continue to provide more in-person learning, but also to enable both students and staff who are vulnerable to Covid, or who live with or care for vulnerable people, to access education.”
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Lecturers are to continue their strikes this week at ten Scottish universities, including Edinburgh, over pay and conditions.
A spokesperson for The University of Edinburgh said: “Since before the start of this academic year, we communicated our expectation that students should be with us in Edinburgh to study as we are delivering a mix of in-person and digital teaching; being on campus enables a full university experience.
“Safety measures continue to be in place for all campus activity, such as one-way systems, hand sanitisation stations, management of numbers of students and staff in buildings.
“Where medical conditions mean that is not possible we can be flexible based on individual circumstances.”
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