Children as young as 11 are being asked to record their own close contacts in case they test positive for Covid-19.
In a move described as dangerous and farcical Fife Council has issued log books for every secondary school pupil in the region.
The local authority is trying to ensure school staff are not enlisted for contact tracing over the Christmas holidays, as instructed by Education Secretary John Swinney.
For the final days of term youngsters must list every person they come within two metres of, and have been told to keep the diaries to aid contract tracers if they catch the virus.
The documents are to include the names of those they encounter on their journey to and from school, in class, at breaks and at lunchtime until schools close next Tuesday.
Those listed could be instructed to self-isolate over the Christmas holidays.
One teacher told us: “We are entrusting the safety of people to 11-year-olds, assuming they have the ability to keep accurate records and don’t lose the sheets over the next week.
“This whole situation has become a farce, and a dangerous one at that.”
The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “In practical subjects they will need to write the names of all the pupils down, which for some pupils will take the entire lesson.”
We are entrusting the safety of people to 11-year-olds, assuming they have the ability to keep accurate records and don’t lose the sheets over the next week.”
A Fife teacher
On the first day of logs being kept another teacher told of a pupil listing them as a contact when they popped into their classroom for seconds to collect a print-out.
Fife branch of teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, agreed the approach was farcical.
David Farmer, publicity officer, said: “We are shunting an awful lot of responsibility onto kids without having prepared them for it.
“Most teachers would expect contact tracing to be done by trained adults.”
He said there was likely to be confusion over what constituted a close contact and situations where pupils don’t know the names of people sitting beside them on buses, for example.
What does Fife Council say?
Fife Council head of education and children’s services, Shelagh McLean, responded: “Although schools and nurseries will close at the end of the day on Tuesday 22nd December, public health teams will continue to respond to positive Covid cases that may be linked to schools over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“Any child who has a positive test during the holidays will be contacted by public health contact tracers, to help them identify anybody who might have been in close contact with them.
“To help support this work, we are asking our secondary school pupils to keep a note of who they had close contact with when they were in school, so that this information is to hand if they do need to be contacted over the holidays.”
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