John Swinney’s back-to-school message may not be all it seems – John McLellan

Education Secretary John Swinney’s announcement that schools would return full-time in August came with detailed caveats and may have been based on a realisation of how much ‘blended learning’ would cost, writes John McLellan.

The Scottish Government is now telling parents kids will be back in school full time, but with stringent conditions attached(Picture: John Devin)

When is a U-turn not a U-turn? When it’s a shift in messaging around expectation management, according to The Scotsman’s award-winning reporter Martyn McLaughlin.

But before anyone either scoffs or marvels at such linguistic dexterity, perhaps we should not get too carried away with Education Secretary John Swinney’s “school’s in” announcement on Tuesday.

The intention to return to full schooling in August is indeed a vastly different position to that of the end of last week, when Edinburgh Council had only just come round to the idea of asking for the £30m needed to open its schools to only 50 per cent capacity.

But it is only an intention and, with conditions as dense as a holiday insurance policy, a full return is by no means guaranteed; the virus must be fully suppressed in the wider community, early warning systems in place, protective measures implemented, ongoing risk assessments, and a double check on testing will all be needed before the green light will be given.

“We can move away from blended learning only if we stay on track and can command the confidence of parents, teachers and children on safety,” said Mr Swinney.

Even with the prospect of teachers in visors delivering classes behind screens, for an innately cautious administration going from two-metres to no metres in the space of a weekend does not quite ring true, and for all the warm words about tireless work and rising to challenges, Mr Swinney’s statement smacked more of political expediency than educational necessity.

With educationalists, parents and even their own supporters protesting in the past few days, maybe the SNP did indeed have a light-bulb moment, but with so much emphasis on retaining 50 per cent capacity and part-time teaching as a contingency, Mr Swinney appeared less than confident that full-time teaching in August was more likely than not.

Then there is the EIS, and the teaching union was quick to warn that a full return by August 11 would be “subject to discussion and agreement”. Teachers might be up for it, but not if the union says no. “A great deal of work at school level has already gone into planning for a blended learning model . . . so any change will require time,” said an EIS statement.

But the union is correct that a lot of effort has gone into the 50 per cent approach, and in Edinburgh’s case a lot more will be needed just to have the contingency in place, given the plan as of last week was only 33 per cent.

In effect, education authorities now have to produce two plans, which in the medium term means more cost not less, particularly as contracts will still have to be signed to ensure there are enough extra teachers in place to cope with either scenario. And with all the safety measures needed, full-time teaching does not mean a return to school as normal. Far from it.

Mr Swinney made an additional £100m available to pay for the emergency measures, but Edinburgh’s 50 per cent plan alone is estimated to cost an extra £30m. Parliament wraps up this week without local authorities knowing if they will have the resources to deliver whichever plan gets the go-ahead on August 11. Presumably they just have to get on with it.

It’s all very well for Mr Swinney to say the drop in infections has taken him by surprise, but as public anger was clearly mounting his army of civil servants could have spent the last week assembling an accurate picture of what local authorities needed to deliver what might pass for an education.

The Scottish Government knew councils were already starved of cash, but what if they realised Edinburgh’s £30m bill was just the start, that the national cost for part-time teaching would be astronomical and, above all, the educational outcome was going to be a disaster.

Perhaps Mr Swinney was indeed managing expectations, but the truth is education authorities can’t afford so-called “blended learning” in more ways than one.

Why no mention of tourist tax in Higgins Report?

The response to the Higgins Report into how Scotland’s economy can recover from the Covid-19 emergency has been lukewarm, with the likes of entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter criticising the lack of detail and then lack of attention to the role of small businesses. But banker Benny Higgins, who led the short inquiry, is no fool and was constrained by time, a very limited remit and the usual problems of managing the input of a team of strong-minded individuals dominated by academics.

However, he did recognise the importance of the tourism industry in a national economy totally dominated by services, and recommended that the Government should “look at fiscal measures to protect and progress it” and called for “a targeted reduction in business rates for tourism establishments” and for the UK Government to cut VAT.

The Transient Visitor Levy, which Edinburgh Council continues to demand? Not a mention.

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