Dundee City Council has confirmed it is working out how best to get free meals to city children who are entitled to them after schools close their doors on Friday.
The local authority has issued an update after education secretary John Swinney told parliament that the Scottish Government would be prioritising support for vulnerable children and families of key workers.
On Wednesday, Nicola Sturgeon announced the closure of all Scotland’s schools due to the covid-19 pandemic. And earlier today Mr Swinney revealed that all of Scotland’s 2020 exams were being cancelled.
Dundee City Council said its schools are already working on plans to continue children’s educations from home using online resources and other “creative” measures.
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The local authority also said it will strive to help parents experiencing childcare issues following the closures.
A council spokesman said: “We are making progress in dealing with this unprecedented situation and we are looking at how we best use our schools to support vulnerable children, pupils completing SQA coursework and assessments and children of key workers.
“Since the announcement was made yesterday (Wednesday), we have moved to identify those vulnerable young people who would receive support while the schools are closed.
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“The council is talking to our emergency and key services and other partners to identify the families for whom childcare would allow them to remain in their frontline, critical jobs.”
He added: “We are also exploring how to best get food, or equivalent, to children who are entitled to free school meals.
“Schools are helping all pupils with work and online support to help in the continuity of their education, with many examples of creative thinking being shown by our staff.
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“We understand that school closures will have childcare implications for many families across the city, and we are making every effort with our partners to help them through this extremely challenging time.
“We are discussing the recent announcement with head teachers and trade unions and will be providing further details on Friday that will cover the arrangements for the last week of the school term.
“During the next few days we will be working with partners to finalise arrangements for the Easter break and beyond.”
It comes after covid-19 deaths in Scotland doubled to six.
Across Scotland a total of 266 people have contracted the virus, an increase from 227 on Wednesday.
There are now 27 confirmed cases of covid-19 in Tayside and nine in Fife.
This is a rise of three for Tayside and one for the kingdom.
