Teachers speak out over Covid-19 pressures

Scotland’s schools were shut on March 20 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. We spoke to members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on teaching staff. The EIS is the largest teaching union in Scotland, organising 80% of Scotland’s teachers. 

EIS member and secondary school teacher

“Before the schools closed on March 20 there was growing concern among teachers and support staff at the lack of appropriate safety measures. At my school, with 800 pupils, there were clearly not enough cleaning staff even to empty bins. The wiping down of desks on a regular basis, important given the numbers of times pupils change classrooms every day, was viewed by management of the cleaning company as desirable but not essential. A lot of teachers fear they can be infected after being in schools for a long period. Classroom assistants, among the lowest paid workers, have not had access to protective equipment.”

“Clearly social distancing did not happen in schools in the run up to the closure announcement. Some of us may already have the virus or have had it. Without testing how do we know if we are safe to be working? Another concern is if we are asked to teach in one of the school hubs we could spread the virus, or will be susceptible to picking up illnesses in schools we are not used to working in.”

“A big concern for pupils sitting exams – which will not now take place – is how will they be graded. Teachers will of course give a judgment as to where pupils were at but will the SQA trust the judgment of teachers? How will they quality assure the exam results. Since the school closures, some students were asking teachers to mark work, but only those who can access the internet can send the work in. Potentially disadvantaging those without a reliable internet at home.”

Jim Halfpenny, EIS joint branch secretary for West Dunbartonshire writes…

After the shutting down of Scotland’s schools in late March, there are a small number of hub schools open in most council areas for vulnerable children and children of essential workers. 

Many head teachers have been confused on the advice from their local authorities on standards of health and safety required within their schools. Health and Safety risk assessments are to be carried out by head teachers who have no training. Many are reporting that they have no idea how to do this. 

Teachers are highly anxious of these conditions that they have to work under. We’ve seen calls from staff asking for appropriate protective equipment (PPE) such as hand sanitisers and gloves which have been rejected in many council areas. These category 1 front line workers continue to be told that hand washing and social distancing is sufficient.

Testing of staff would assist in controlling the potential spreading of the virus. Provision of PPE should be put in place for all staff working with children with complex physical needs, as the supporting of these pupils often requires closer physical contact than the current social distancing measures would permit.

Those teachers working from home have found that producing lessons on line, as demanded by their employers, is a stressful imposition, especially those who have to look after their own children. 

Many teachers are working late into the night to manage this. Incredibly, some teachers have been asked to produce records of work as if normal teaching practice is still the order of the day. 

This is bureaucratic nonsense from management who do not trust their staff and, in the process, insult their professionalism. The EIS position is that these records of work should not be completed.

Teachers have, in most cases, been asked to volunteer for a rota to work in these hubs. The response has been many more teachers putting themselves forward than is required. 

Despite this, there have been examples of teachers with caring responsibilities, and who are excused from the rota, being asked to explain themselves.

So far, most local authorities have not managed to get to grips with an unprecedented and difficult situation. Many more staff are being deployed than is required to look after very few children so far. This increases the chance of infection to them and their families.

These decisions on how to keep children safe and maintain some level of education have been taken by councils, for the most part, with the exclusion of the local trade union movement.

Discussions are ongoing but it is clear that accreditation for National Qualifications will be founded on teacher professional judgement based on all the evidence available, including, but not exclusively, prelim results, classwork, marked assignments, completed coursework, etc. It would appear that such difficult times have produced a better form of assessment than the annual pressurised sprint of a two hour exam.

What is clear is that years of cuts to local authority spending, and austerity in general, has made our ability to deal with this crisis much more difficult. After this emergency has passed, a return of the money stolen from education and council services over the last decade will be essential.