Overwhelming majority of Scots back school closures, with third saying more support needed for parents

Almost three quarters of Scots believe it was the right decision to close schools in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to a new poll.

Three quarters of Scots believe the decision to close schools due to Covid-19 was the right one.

However, around a third of Scots believe that parents should have been supported with home schooling and online learning more by the Scottish Government.

The poll, undertaken by Savanta ComRes for The Scotsman, interviewed 1,016 people online between January 8 and 13.

The figures show 72 per cent of Scots support somewhat or strongly support the decision to close schools, with just 7 per cent ‘somewhat’ opposing the move and 4 per cent – or one in 25 Scots – strongly opposing the move.

A total of 31 per cent, just under one in three, say the Scottish Government should have provided more support to parents. A quarter believe the support is somewhere in the middle and a further quarter said enough support had been provided.

Reacting to the figures, Scottish Conservative education spokesperson Jamie Greene said a “sensible and clear” plan was required to get pupils back into classrooms.

He said: “The polling is also clear that many parents feel that the Scottish Government have clearly not done enough to prepare for this move to remote learning, despite it being their main contingency plan for quite some time.

“Working parents are desperate for support and guidance and teachers have little confidence in the plans for 2021 as we heard this week in Holyrood. The SNP cannot be complacent a day longer with school plans. They must offer reassurances that they will make schools safe and get these young people behind desks again.”

Scottish Labour’s education spokesperson Iain Gray said concerns around the “chopping and changing” of required evidence for exams and struggles with online learning must be addressed by education secretary John Swinney.

He said: “It is clear that teachers have worked hard to be prepared for remote learning this time, but that was not matched by national bodies such as Education Scotland.

"IT platforms should have been properly stress-tested so they did not fall over on day one, and far too many subjects are not covered by the national resources such as e-Sgoil.”

Scottish Greens’ education spokesperson Ross Greer said the Scottish Government needed to “get a move on” with delivering safety measures for teachers in school ahead of a full return to schools.

He said: “We cannot compromise on pupil and school staff safety when so many lives are at stake, a position this poll shows an overwhelming majority of Scots in agreement with. That’s why before we consider reopening schools, the Scottish Government needs to get a move on and deliver on the package of safety measures proposed by the Greens and twice agreed to by Parliament.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Beatrice Wishart MSP said: "The prospect of a return to remote learning has been on the table for months. There's no excuse for John Swinney and his education quangos not being ready for it this time around. Just last week, guidance for teachers was issued at 5:37pm on Friday, before remote learning started at 9am on Monday.

"Teachers and parents are doing the best they can, but they've been let down by a distant and distracted Education Secretary."

The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.

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