HOLYROOD’S education committee is to probe the plight of Scotland’s vulnerable children during the coronavirus crisis.
Estimates suggest that just 14% are attending school – sparking alarm among charities and education chiefs.
Clare Adamson, convener of the Education and Skills Committee, has written to organisations to ask for their input into its inquiry.
In March, all Scottish schools closed two weeks before the Easter holidays. Provision was put in place for children of NHS staff and other frontline workers, as well as children considered vulnerable.
There’s no central definitive definition of what a “vulnerable” child is when it comes to coronavirus.
Last month Education Secretary John Swinney said schools and local authorities “best placed to identify which children need care, protection and support”.
The Children’s Commissioner for Scotland, Bruce Adamson, suggested the number of children on the child protection register, or who are on the edge of care, looked after, living in extreme poverty, or have complex additional support needs is around 45,000.
It’s thought only 980 are in school.
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Joanna Barrett, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Scotland, welcomed the inquiry. She said: “We are profoundly aware that the current lockdown is increasing the risk of harm to some children, especially those with additional support needs and those living in families already struggling to cope.
“We also understand that in Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, child protection referrals have dropped and attendance of vulnerable children at school is extremely low.
“It is, therefore, crucial that in Scotland we urgently focus on these children and assess how we can work together to reach and support them before it is too late, and that no child remains invisible in these extremely challenging and unprecedented times.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition said it was vital action was taken quickly. “We are concerned that some of those with complex needs and disabilities may not be getting the specialist support they require. In addition, many of those who are vulnerable are children of families where there is known to be domestic violence, which we know is on the increase, substance abuse, parental sickness or disability, as well as poverty – which is closely associated with neglect.
“So often these children are quite invisible at home and not in the place which is best at keeping them safe – school.
“It is vital that action is quickly taken to assess the requirements of these vulnerable children and young people and adequate support is provided.”
On Tuesday, the Department of Education revealed that just 5% of vulnerable children were in school in England.
When the emergency schools first opened on 23 March, around 60,000 vulnerable children attended, but by Friday 3 April the number had halved to 29,000. On the same day, 85,000 children of critical workers attended. By last Friday their number had dropped to 62,000, or around 2% of all children of critical workers.
In the letter to children’s charities, Adamson has asked questions on the provision of free school meals, monitoring of attendance and progress, the process of child protection and support for those with additional support needs.
The MSP wrote: “The committee knows that different children will have different support needs.
“For some attending a school or childcare setting would be best, for others targeted support in a home setting is best, for others it will be a combination of the two.
“Pressures on local authorities and all other organisations with a role to play will impact on what support can be provided.
“The committee also knows there has been a need to quickly adapt approaches to reflect social distancing and an increased need for support, and that the challenge of co-ordinating all of this support has been massive.”
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