Nicola Sturgeon refuses to commit to date for full school return in Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon has refused to commit to the latest possible date that all children could return to school, saying only that she hoped youngsters would be back in the classroom before the summer.

The First Minister would not be drawn on whether teenagers could guarantee they will be back at school this academic year, but reiterated that re-starting schools in full was the government's priority.

As youngsters in P1 to P3 – and a limited number of high school students taking practical subjects – returned to the classroom on Monday with no return date set for the remainder of Scotland’s school population, Ms Sturgeon said: "I want to get children back to school before the summer, but I can’t, I would not be being fair to anybody if I said ‘the latest date is this’ because I don’t know that right now. What I do know is that getting children back to education is a top priority.”

Ms Sturgeon said she feared coronavirus transmission could “go through the roof” if all school children were allowed back into the classroom at the same time.

Nicola Sturgeon said she hopes all youngsters will be back to school before the summer.

The First Minister spoke out as Westminster indicated all youngsters in England could go back to face-to-face learning from March 8. On March 2, the Scottish Government is due to set out what the next phase of school return will be, but has said it will not be before March 15.

She said she had seen the impact of school closures on her own teenage niece and nephew.

"I’ve got a niece and nephew of my own and I see, when I speak to them, the impact it’s having, being away, not just from school and education, but from friends,” she said.

Asked why the Scottish Government had not taken the same approach as Boris Johnson’s UK administration, Ms Sturgeon said: “If we were to do that right now we would send transmission through the roof again very quickly.”

The Scottish Government has already warned parents whose children are returning to school not to meet up with friends at the school gate or see the move as a chance for them to go back into the office.

The First Minister said: “Is it ideal? No. Because I want every child back to school right now.

"But I think that is the most sensible and sustainable way of doing this, in a way that is going to stick. That, after a year of this misery, that is really the important thing, getting us out of this lockdown in a way that sticks.”

She added ministers would need to assess the impact of the limited return before hopefully allowing more children to return “later in March”.

Chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith said while he was “absolutely delighted” some children had been able to go back to school, he was also a “a little bit uneasy about it”.

He said: “Over the next three weeks we will be tracking very, very carefully what happens with transmission.

“If everybody plays their part and if everybody makes sure they are very cautious in terms of limiting the ability of this virus to transmit between people, I am fairly confident we will get to a position in three or four weeks’ time where we can start to consider the next stages.”

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