Plan to reopen schools full-time in August

Date: 25th June 2020
Category: Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities

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On 23^rd June 2020, the Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP updated Parliament on plans to reopen schools and announced that Scottish Government will provide a further £100 million over the next two years to help support children returning to school and recover “lost ground”.

The First Minister confirmed on the 15^th June 2020 that Scottish Government will review its approach to physical distancing in schools and equivalent measures in early learning and childcare. John Swinney stated that it is likely that for schools to resume full-time education various conditions would need to be in place: infection rates must be at a sufficiently low level to provide assurance that Scotland can control the virus; test and protect measures and public health infrastructure is being utilised; and protective measures and risk assessments are in place in schools to keep everyone safe.

John Swinney’s announcement acknowledged the importance of improving digital inclusion for children and young people and noted Scottish Government had previously committed to invest £30 million to provide laptops. He said £25 million of this funding will go towards the roll out of digital devices to school pupils to enable them to study online. In addition, Scottish Government will seek the involvement of the Youth Work Sector to increase support to families and communities in poverty, with the aim of reducing the poverty-related attainment gap.

• Read the Deputy First Minister’s announcement in full here.