The Scottish Conservatives have called for the requirement to wear face masks in schools to end, ahead of the new school term.
This week it emerged that Scottish Government advisers believe face coverings “should be removed in classrooms when possible.”
Minutes of a meeting of the Scottish Government Advisory Sub-Group on Education from late June indicate that the group discussed that face mask use in classrooms should be ended once teachers are double jagged.
Previously, on 14 July, the Scottish Conservatives also said the SNP Government should end self-isolation rules for children before the start of the new school term.
Under current SNP plans, children identified as close contacts of a positive case will continue having to self-isolate for 10 days.
Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education, Oliver Mundell MSP, said: “Young people have already faced a year of upheaval and disrupted education. They deserve a return to normality as soon as possible.
“The success of Scotland and the UK’s vaccine scheme means that face masks in schools are no longer a necessity, as the government’s advisers have suggested.
“Scotland’s schools must be at the front of the queue for the relaxation of restrictions. Protecting young people’s education should be a top priority for the SNP Government.
“We firmly believe the public health data now supports a return to normality in schools by removing the requirement for face masks and ending the need for children to self-isolate for 10 days.
“Parents, pupils and teachers are waiting for answers on what rules will be in place. We should put restoring Scotland’s schools first and give children back a normal learning experience again.”
Notes
Minutes of the Advisory Sub-Group on Education meeting from June are here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advisory-sub-group-on-education-and-childrens-issues-minutes-29-june-2021/