Negligence, Ministers and Covid-19
For weeks and weeks the Scottish Government told us that the increase in Covid cases was due to fellow Scots getting together and behaving irresponsibly in private households.
Nothing was said at the time about the all too obvious dangers of bringing students back to universities and communal halls of residence - without first putting special arrangements in place.
Yet without a word of apology or regret Scottish Ministers abandon their policy and agree that students can work from home after Christmas.
Read the full story via the link below to The Times.
CORONAVIRUS
Coronavirus in Scotland: Students ‘can work from home’ after teaching U-turn
The message has been clear to students at Glasgow and elsewhere but universities have been criticised for allowing them to arrive on campus in September - Photo ANDY BUCHANAN/GETTY IMAGES
Students in Scotland are set to work from home after Christmas in a major U-turn from ministers accused of “negligence” for allowing coronavirus to sweep through halls of residence.
It would mean universities and colleges in regions with high rates of infection having to deliver “restricted blended learning” — entire courses taught over the internet.
Under the new plan, academics say that there is no reason why a student from England could not remain at home while studying in Scotland.
The instruction, which is likely to affect all institutions across the central belt, overrides guidance published on September 1 which gave the green light for universities to invite students back to campus and university residences.
A wave of coronavirus outbreaks within halls in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen subsequently forced tens of thousands of students to self-isolate. It is thought that there have been at least 1,500 positive tests among students in halls — 10 per cent of all cases in Scotland since September 19.
Critics claim that first-year undergraduates were subjected to an “experiment in herd immunity” by universities who feared financial catastrophe if rents were slashed because students attended online. As The Times revealed last month, this potentially disastrous policy was unleashed after ministers dropped their own long-established social distancing rules, removing the words “work and study that can be done remotely must be done so” from its instructions to universities and colleges.
Carlo Morelli, Scotland president of the University and College Union, which represents lecturers, academics and university staff, said that the reversal was an acknowledgement that the government’s policy had “backfired”.
“It was clear the universities would be one of the places where the infection would be concentrated and from there spread out to the community,” Dr Morelli said. “The evidence coming out of the US was clear, and the warning signs from Sage [Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] were clear. This was not completely unknown; it was actually negligence that they were putting the funding of universities ahead of student safety and it has backfired big time.”
The volte-face meant that there was no reason why a student from Surrey could not stay at home to study in Scotland, he added.
“They will be safer, it’s more comfortable and it’s cheaper,” Dr Morelli said. There would be “consequences” for universities, which would have to devote more staff and resources to be able to work one-to-one with students. He said: “It is a much more labour-intensive model, but universities think they can just do it with a bit of software and chuck a few things on a video.”
Signs have been displayed at the City of Glasgow College at other campuses but now colleges and universities are being expected to move to remote learning- Photo ALAMY
Matt Crilly, NUS Scotland president, said remote learning should be the “default position where possible” to keep students safe. “Students need clear communications from the Scottish government and universities and colleges so that they know exactly what their next semester is going to look like,” he said.
Chickens, Closures and Covid-19 (27/10/20)
I've just finished watching the Scottish Parliament debate the latest measures for combatting Covid-19 - contributions from MSPs varied enormously with many reading woodenly from pre-prepared statements.
If you ask me, the most thoughtful contribution came from Willie Rennie who made a good point about a recent Covid outbreak in a chicken factory in Coupar Angus.
Now, unsurprisingly, this local outbreak did not result in the closure of every chicken plant across Scotland.
So why did the Scottish Government decide to shut down all restaurants and bars in Scotland's central belt without any evidence that restaurants and bars were responsible for the recent big spike in Covid cases?
More to the point if Scotland's building and manufacturing industries are to remain open during all levels of the new 5 tier plan, where is the plan for the hospitality, entertainment and tourism industries to achieve the same.As ever there are more questions than answers, but I didn't hear a word of regret or apology from Scottish Ministers for helping to create this crisis by recklessly bringing students back to their universities and halls of residence.
Tiers, Plans and Covid Lockdowns (27/10/20)
Today's the big day when we get to hear more details about Scotland's new tiers or levels of Covid restrictions which for some strange reason are numbered zero to four instead of one to five.
I may watch the event 'live' on TV as I'm very interested in what the Scottish Government has to say - while we're not back exactly where we started in March, I think it is fair to say the politicians have lost control since their disastrous decision to allow students to return to universities and their halls of residence.
In which case what are the politicians planning to do other than locking us all down again for weeks on end - surely they don't believe that an endless series of Groundhog Day 'lockdowns' is the way to defeat Covid-19?
So if I were the Scottish Minister, instead of cancelling Christmas or Halloween, I'd be asking myself why so many people (albeit a minority) are ignoring the Government's message on public safety.
Then I would set about finding new, different and more effective ways of persuading people about the importance of social distancing, wearing face coverings and remaining cautious at all times.
