Work to improve air flow in schools and nurseries will be supported by an extra £5 million from the Scottish Government.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the cash in her Covid briefing to the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday.
The money, she said, will help councils with remedial work necessary to improve air flow in schools and early learning and childcare settings and comply with Covid-19 guidance in mitigating the risk of the virus.
It was described as ‘long overdue’ by Scotland’s largest teaching union, the EIS, which said it will take weeks before necessary air filters reach crowded classrooms.
Scottish Government guidance for schools states that local authorities should ensure all of their schools and nurseries have access to CO2 monitors to determine where remedial action is needed to improve ventilation.
Remedial work could include repairing windows or faulty ventilation systems or providing further guidance on regular opening of windows and balancing temperature.
Where can air filters be used?
Although the guidance states that natural or mechanical ventilation is the best means of reducing risk, it says air cleaning devices or HEPA filters may be used in areas where adequate ventilation cannot be maintained.
Outlining the investment Ms Sturgeon said: “Before Christmas we published revised guidance for these settings which included updated material on ventilation which, amongst other things, made clear the circumstances in which use of air cleaning devices may be appropriate.
“To assist local authorities with this I can confirm we will allocate an additional £5m of capital funding to local authorities and to funded early learning childcare providers.
“This is in addition to the money previously provided for CO2 monitors and will support any remedial work that councils need to do to improve air flow and comply with the new guidance.”
EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan said: “Whilst the additional funding of £5 million for air cleaners is welcome, it, frankly, is long overdue.
“We have been talking about improving ventilation in schools for over a year and now, in January 2022, we finally have funding made available but it will take weeks for this to be processed, air cleaners procured and then supplied to schools.
“In the meantime, teachers and pupils will continue to face the challenge of Omicron in busy, crowded schools.”
How many CO2 monitors in local schools?
Local authorities were given £10m by the government in August last year, to support the distribution of CO2 monitors to school and other work to improve ventilation.
By the end of last term Fife Council had distributed 1,290 monitors to 176 schools and nurseries and Angus Council had 1,581 devices in 62 schools and nurseries.
Dundee City Council, which has 41 schools and 13 standalone nurseries, had 1,117 fixed and mobile monitors, while Perth and Kinross Council said it had 1,523 monitors in operation among 73 schools and nurseries.
