Scotland makes face coverings mandatory in high schools from August 31

Luke O'Reilly25 August 2020

Scottish secondary school pupils will have to wear masks in areas where physical distancing is not possible, the country's education secretary has confirmed.

John Swinney said there will be “obligatory guidance” that pupils should wear face coverings when moving around schools from August 31.

Speaking on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme, he said the Scottish Government was going further than the World Health Organisation guidance by recommending masks on school buses.

The guidance will apply to all secondary schools, he said, but pupils will not be excluded from school if they do not wear a face covering.

Further detail on the guidance is expected to be published later on Tuesday.

Boris Johnson is under pressure to bring in masks in English schools
AP

He said: “From August 31, young people over the age of 12 in secondary schools should be habitually wearing face coverings when they’re moving around in schools and corridors and in communal areas where it is difficult to deliver the physical distancing which is an inherent part of the guidance that the education recovery group has put in place after widespread consultation and dialogue.”

He said that headteachers had felt the rules would be a “beneficial move” during discussions last week.

Mr Swinney continued: “Now, of course, there will be exemptions for this, because the wearing of face coverings is not suitable for all individuals and that has to be respected.”

Pupils will not be excluded from school if they do not wish to wear a face covering 
PA

The guidance will state that pupils should not be excluded from school if they do not wish to wear a face covering.

The Education Secretary added: “That will be explicit within the guidance that we put out, that a young person is not to be excluded for that reason, but it’s obligatory guidance on all secondary schools, special schools and grant-aided schools.”

It comes after a Number 10 spokesman said there were “no plans” to review the guidance on face coverings in schools, on Monday.

He added: “We are conscious of the fact that it would obstruct communication between teachers and pupils.”

England’s deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries has said the evidence on whether children over 12 should wear masks in schools was “not strong”, while Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said measures being adopted by schools to limit the spread of coronavirus meant masks were not required.

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